


Her Mistake: The Philosopher's Stone

by TheGreyWriter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Animagus Harry Potter, Apprentice Harry Potter, Azkaban, BAMF Harry Potter, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Daily Prophet, Death, Female Harry Potter, Firewhiskey (Harry Potter), Gen, Goblins, Good Albus Dumbledore, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Harry Potter in Azkaban, Harry Potter is the Heir to the House of Black, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Era, Hogwarts First Year, Malnutrition, Master of Death (Harry Potter), Master of Death Harry Potter, Mentor Albus Dumbledore, Metamorphmagus, Metamorphmagus Harry Potter, Modern Marauders (Harry Potter), Past Child Abuse, Post-Prison, Post-Sirius Black in Azkaban, Potions, Room of Requirement, Sirius Black as Padfoot, Sirius Black in Azkaban, The Deathly Hallows, The Marauder's Map, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Wandlore (Harry Potter), Wands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-05-31 00:59:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 81,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19415185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreyWriter/pseuds/TheGreyWriter
Summary: Holly Potter made a mistake. She chose Hallows over Horcruxes and now the world pays the price. Locked away in Azkaban she can do nothing but watch and wait as everything crumbles around her. To keep her own sanity she has held onto the Resurrection Stone. Everyday more friends have joined with the ones she summons forth to teach and train her, helping her prepare to escape.But all is not what it seems. Somewhere else something terrible is occurring. When Holly finally manages to escape and retrieve the Elder Wand it all goes wrong and she suddenly ends up in her 11 year old body standing before the Mirror of Erised. Given a chance once more by an unknown power she finds herself reliving her childhood to save not just the future but the world itself. Luckily there is one person she can confide in, her mentor and Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore...(On Hiatus till the inspiration hits me again.)





	1. Cracks in the Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning that this starts rather dark in tone but things will lighten up. Though expect the darkness to return as the school years go on because I cannot help myself when things get serious.

**Chapter 01:** Cracks in the Universe

Percy Weasley shivered as he passed by the boney cloaked figures. The frigid sea air was nothing compared to the chill from the wardens of Azkaban. Voices echoed in his head as he passed by them. Screams and cries of his family. The hole in his chest from the loss of them was even worse than when the Ministry had taken his right arm. A lesson they had told him. A punishment to keep him in line. And a warning that the next time he failed the Dark Lord turned Minister of Magic it would be worse. They would take far worse than his arm this time…

He could not fail his current assignment. He pulled his cloak tighter around him as he ventured into the highest security level of Azkaban. Once upon a time this had been the cells reserved for those driven insane by the dementors, mostly those from The Dark Lord's first rise. Now after his second rise to power it served as a trophy case for his defeated foes. Though the prisoners here were just as insane as ever. Percy looked into one cell, from which came a childish humming. The eyeless face of a small woman in rags stared back at him.

It took him a moment to look past the blonde hair that was so dirty it may as well be black and the long scars that ran across the withered skull like face to see the familiar features of young Luna Lovegood. Despite having had her eyes ripped out nearly a decade ago her head turned with Percy as he shuffled past. All the while her humming echoed off the dull walls. He remembered the song she hummed from when he was younger. The strange Lovegood daughter and Ginny had sung that nonesoness song for hours on end the summer of Percy's first year at Hogwarts.  _ Ginny… _

He glanced to the empty cell further down the hall. That had been Ginny's cell. Percy had visited her for months on end. He had begged her to just tell them what she knew. Tell them of the Resistance. But Ginny had stubbornly refused. Right up till she had been dragged before a wizarding firing squad. Like many that had been held here her loyalty to the Resistance had been unbreakable. Almost as unbreakable as the only other prisoner here besides Lovegood. This whole level had been redesigned after The Dark Lord took over for one single purpose. The torture and interrogation of Holly Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived.

Percy caught himself. Steadying his stride and straightening his shoulders he marched forward to the last cell on the level. He pulled out his Ministry approved paperwork and presented it to the two dementors that floated on opposite sides of the cell doors. One of them reached out with a bony hand to take it from him. A shiver went up Percy's spine as the hand of the dementor brushed against his own. It was like a shot of ice through his veins. It studied the papers as the other dementor stared straight through Percy. He could not see the face of the monster under that hood but he could feel its gaze upon him. Like a dog looking at a treat upon its nose waiting for its master to give it permission to feed.

The dementor with the paperwork looked back up at Percy before handing him the sheets of parchment back and shifting aside. The other dementor mirrored this action as they both raised their hands and the cell door creaked open. Gathering what little nerve he could muster around the dementors he stepped into the cell. His eyes glanced around the dirty walls and baron floor. A single three bared window that was little more than a slit in the wall of the mighty island fortress looked over stormy ocean waters. "Holly?" He called his voice echoing. Something moved in the shadows.

Percy flicked out his wand, fumbling it slightly with his left hand, before bringing it up to bear. " _ Expecto Patronum _ ." A dull white mist burst from his wand before flickering away. The shadow shifted once more.

"Happy memory…" a raspy voice murmured from the darkness. "Focus on a happy…"

Percy frowned as he discarded the memory of becoming head boy and instead thought of his wedding day. " _ Expecto Patronum _ ." Once more the mist formed, stronger and more solid this time. But like before it faded and died as he remembered. His wife was dead…

"Not happier memories," the voice groaned out. "Just memories of something not lost to the darkness. Happy memories that are not lost to you. Ones that still remain. Think of the best thing in your life… the thing that keeps you going… focus on it and cast the spell."

Percy strained under the presence of the dementors to remember what kept him going. Why was he here again? What was the point of anything anyone? What did it even matter? Molly and Lucy. They had Molly and Lucy. His daughters, that's what kept him going. Their smiles, their laughs, their voices calling to him… " _ Expecto Patronum _ ."

A small misty white robin burst from his wand. Despite its tiny size, the red robin lit up the room. The feelings of hopelessness and depression faded as what little cheer Percy had in the world returned.

The figure in the shadows was revealed to be a woman with wild black hair. Her skin was filthy and her clothes little more than scraps on her boney frame. She was gaunt and weary. Barely able to keep her head up to look at Percy with her emerald green eyes from behind shattered glasses. A smile was on her cracked lips as her eyes followed the little red robin patronus that flew around the cell.

"Ginny," Holly murmured. Somehow she managed to look even shorter and thinner than the 12 year old girl Percy remembered meeting the summer before her second year at Hogwarts. Her gaze shifted back to Percy. "Brilliant work Ron mate. I told you you could do it."

"Holly, Ron's…" Percy said a lump forming in his throat as he thought of his hospital ridden brother. "... not here. It's me. Percy."

Holly looked disappointed for a moment before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it mate. Hermione's going to be so glad to see you Ron. She was just saying how much everyone missed you," Holly said still beaming at him. Percy's eyes widened, Hermione had been dead for… it must have been four or five years. Almost as long as Ron had been comatose. "Not to mention Ginny and Neville and George and Fred.."

"Holly," Percy injected. Fred had been dead since before the Dark Lord's second resurrection. "They're all dead."

"Of course they are," Holly said as if that was obvious. "They all died… all of them… just me left here… me and Luna. I hear her sing. Such a pretty voice. I love that voice. Almost as much as I loved her pretty silver eyes. They were like diamonds. But can't let them know that. Last time I did…" Holly paused as her smile wavered. "They took them from her. Made me watch as they plucked them out. Like tearing grapes off a vine. She said she would not cry and she didn't… not till they were gone and she realised that without her eyes she couldn't see the nargles anymore. She misses them…"

"Holly please…"

"But now that you're here Ron we're not alone anymore," Holly said her smile returning. "Molly and Arthur are coming around tonight after Dumbledore's lessons. Can you stay for tea? I can invite around my parents and Sirius and Remus and Tonks… you have not met my parents yet. I'll have to introduce you to them. They have been wanting to meet you for ages."

"Holly stop!" Percy cried out. Holly sat quietly there, fiddling with a ring on her finger. "Please Holly… I need your help."

"Sure thing Ron," Holly said with a nod. "What do you need help with? Tell me what I can do. I will do anything for you. You know that mate."

"I…" Percy's voice caught in his throat. "I need to know where the wand is Holly. Where did you hide the Elder Wand?"

"Shhhhhhhh," Holly said putting her finger to her lips. "That's a secret. Can't let Voldemort know where it is."

"Please Holly just tell me where it is," Percy said fighting the urge to get down on his knees and beg. "That's all he wants. Just give him the wand."

"Sorry Ron… but you know we can't," Holly said. "He'll kill us. You, Luna and Me. Can't tell him."

"Holly they have my daughters. You have to tell them!" Percy did not realise he had stalked across the cell and was standing above her till he felt her hand grasp his ankle.

"I'm sorry Ron… I am so sorry," Holly cried. "I can't tell him. I hid the wand and he can't be allowed to know where it is. You know why I can't tell him."

"Please…" Percy said but Holly merely shook her head. "You heartless bitch!" He lashed out, kicking Holly in the side. "Are you really going to do this? Sacrifice my daughters for some bloody wand?" He kicked her again feeling ribs break as Holly coughed up blood across the floor. "Who am I kidding? You already sacrificed the rest of my family. What's another pair of Weasleys to the great Holly Potter?" He kicked her in the face, breaking her nose. "Just another blood stain on your hands. Well fuck you Holly."

"I'm sorry… Uncle Vernon," Holly whimpered as she looked up at Percy with a bloodied face. "I promise I won't do any of my freakish nonsense. Please just don't hurt me anymore."

Percy snapped back to reality at those words. What was he thinking? His anger remained along with the terror of what would happen to his daughters. but shame welled up within him. Holly was clearly damaged. If there was an answer to his question it would not be found here with this broken woman. And certainly not through beating her. He turned his back on her and walked away, no, he ran away. Out of the cell and down the hall. As he passed by Luna's cell it was not humming that filled the air but words.

" _ The world ends tonight, at the dawn of the last hour, the snake will face the lioness one last time, the winner will hold all three Hallows and the world will end with but a whimper, as it breaks apart _ ," Luna said her body stiff and rigid. " _ The world ends tonight _ ."

"Good," Percy spat at her mad ramblings as he rushed past her. Maybe if he begged they would spare his daughters.

*

Alone in her cell, Holly clutched the ring close to her chest as Percy's patronus faded away. The pain across her body was dull in comparison to the coldness from the dementors that returned in full force. She slowly turned the ring around her finger, calling on the power of the last Hallow she held. The wand was hidden and her cloak had been taken from her when they first took her in after Voldemort's second resurrection. Years ago she had made the mistake of going after Hallows over Horcruxes. And this was all she had left to show for it. She was a failure. So many dead in her name and not even snake faced Riddle had been polite enough to stay gone.

"Holly my girl. It's not your fault, it never was."

"Albus," Holly groaned as she wiped away the blood from her face to look up at her long dead Headmaster. "You came."

"Like I always have and I always will," Albus said giving her a warm smile. "We're here for you."

She turned her head to look into a pair of bright sparkling green eyes looking down upon her. "Get up Honey," Lily Potter said her words filling Holly with a warmth that even Azkaban could not take from her. "Easy there…"

Holly pulled herself up into a seated position against the wall. She turned to see a man kneeling down beside her mother.

"That's my big girl," James Potter said. Holly wanted to pull herself up into his embrace but that was not how the Resurrection Stone worked. She had tried. "Brave and strong… just like your old man."

"It is a good thing then that she got her wits and her brains from her mother," Sirius said crouching down by Holly to grin at her like the devil himself.

"Fourtunate indeed," Remus spoke, sticking to the back of the assembled spectors, but nonetheless here and present.

"We're here Harry," Tonks said from besides Remus, her arm around his waist as she held the hand of five year old Teddy. "Just tell us what you need."

"I need to decide what to do," Holly said her eyes turning downcast.

"You need Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron," Teddy chirped with a big toothy smile that was hard to stomach on the face of a dead little boy.

"Uncle Ron can't come here Teddy… not yet," Holly said softly as she forced herself to meet the boy's eyes. "And Auntie Hermione… I don't know if I can bring myself to pull her away again…" They were all in pain here. The ghost suffered to come and comfort Holly. But they were the only thing that had kept her going all these years.

"And yet I came anyway," Hermione said squeezing through the others in the cell to kneel down before Holly. "I am always here for you Holly." She reached out and placed her ghostly hands upon Holly's. They were cold against her skin as they sunk into her palms. But Holly cared little for that.

"Hermione," Holly said, smiling wider than she had in years. "What do I do?"

"Typical Holly," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes but laughter in her voice. "Always wanting me to give you the answers when you already know what you will do anyway." Holly gave Hermione her best sheepish look. "Think about the facts. You have been practicing to escape for a while now, your plan is solid and you are ready. Now you can escape and try to build the Resistance again from nothing, go to ground and live out the rest of your life on the run or stay here and rot. But you won't do any of those. Because you're Holly Potter and there's only one thing you could do."

"I know," Holly said taking a deep breath. "The wand is not safe out there where Riddle can get it. I need to get it back. Then I can think about going to ground or starting a new Resistance."

"You can do it Holly," Hermione said as Holly rose up to her feet. She stumbled over towards the window as Hermione encouraged her along. "Just a little further Holly."

"It's time to leave," Holly said with a firm nod as she took a hold of the bars. "Tonks?"

"I'm here," Tonks said handing off Teddy to Remus as she stepped forward. "Are you ready?"

"Just guide me through," Holly said with a wobbly grin.

"Breathe and remember your exercises," Tonks said resting a hand on Holly's head. "Start with something small like your hair or eyes. Let them shift and change." She smirked as Holly's overgrown hair shortened, the dirt flaking and falling away. "That's it. Now let the tingling course through your body. Shift your muscles and bones. Let it go deep into your tissue. Squeeze it altogether but keep your vital organs working and try not to cut off your respiratory system or blood circulation."

Holly focused on her limited metamorphmagus training that Tonks had given her over these years in Azkaban. It was hard to learn anything in a prison that sucked away your hope. But slowly and steadily her body began to change. She grew even thinner than before. Her bones merged with her flesh as muscles pulled in tight. Her organs rearranged and reshaped as her very bone structure changed. She continued this process till she was the perfect size to start squeezing through the bars. It was thirty minutes till she was fully through the widow and hanging onto them hundreds of meters above a perilous drop.

"Hang on Potter," growled Alastor Moody as he hovered before Holly. "If you dare let go of that before it's time I will make you climb back up the wall and do it again. You didn't do all those push ups for nothing girl."

Holly strained as she felt her grasp on the bars tighten. This was the hardest part. To sneak through the bars she needed to weaken herself significantly due to condensing her muscle and bone. Now as she hung here, regaining it all, she was at her most vulnerable. One slip and she would fall to her death. She needed to wait till she had enough muscle mass to move onto the next phase. Luckily with Moody drilling her in physical training over the years and getting extra food from playing the wasting away prisoner she had built up a healthy reserve.

"I'm ready for the next phase," Holly gasped out as the sea winds battered her about on the exterior of Azkaban. "Dad? Sirius?"

"We're here," Sirius said as he stepped forward alongside James. "You can do this Holly. Remember your meditation."

"Focus on the inner beast," James said his hand reaching through a solid bar to rest on her shoulder. "Release it Honey. Let it become one with you."

"Picture the change in your mind Miss Potter," Professor Mcgonagall instructed as she appeared there alongside Moody. "Just like a mouse into a snuff box. Picture the change and make it happen."

"Let the inner beast help you along Holly," Remus said in his teacher's voice. "But do not let it consume you. Remember you are in charge. Not the other way around."

Holly felt a similar tingle to the metamorphmagus change. Only this one was guided by the beast within her. She felt her legs shift up into her body as her feet transformed into large talons. Her face narrowed and a beak morphed from her lips and nose. Her eyes turned sharper as her body started to lengthen. Dark feathers burst from her skin as her arms started to pull inwards. This was it, the final step. Holly took a deep breath in and released her grasp from the bars.

Air rushed past her. Holly's sharp bird eyes could see the waves crashing against bone shattering rocks below her as she hurtled down towards them. She needed to finish her transformation before she slammed into them. She let out a thunderous screech as she called for the beast within her. Holly felt her arms form into not just one set of wings but three as her body finished growing in size. Spreading her half a dozen wings wide Holly pulled up at the last minute. Her monsterous talons scraped across the rocks as cold sea water sprayed across her feathered body.

Holly had fallen from the highest point of Azkaban but it was a thunderbird that rose from the depths. Flying higher and higher she crested over the prison and up towards the clouds. Dementors swarmed behind her but she beat her wings and left them far below her. Entering into the clouds she felt them gather around her. Lightning arced from her feathers and into the clouds as thunder rumbled. There was a deafening boom as she broke the sound barrier. Breaking through the clouds, the night sky embracing her, a single question came to mind. What now?

Holly knew where she needed to go but not how to get there. It was like second year all over again with the flying car. Only there was no train to follow. And then she saw them. Six broomstick mounted wizards and witches dressed in red and gold. The names on the back of their jerseys were illuminated by the moonlight. Wood, Johnson, Spinnet, Bell and a pair of Weasleys flew into escort positions around Holly. The magic of the Resurrection Stone not only transcended her animagus form but allowed the rest of the quidditch team to keep up with her supersonic speed.

"Fall in Potter," Oliver said, flashing her his wild grin as he trailed behind her tail feathers.

"We have a game to win," Angelina said coming up below Holly.

"And you know us…" one of the Weasley twins began.

"... we hate to lose," the other one finished. The pair of red headed twins fell into position either side of Holly, flanking her.

"Stick with us Holly," Alicia said as she came up alongside Angelina.

"We'll guide you in," Katie said joining with her fellow chasers.

Another red headed figure dressed in a Gryffindor quidditch uniform rose from the clouds before Holly. "Catch me if you can Holly," Ginny said giving the thunderbird animagus a wink before jetting off on her broom. Holly let out a booming cry before barreling after the red headed chaser. The storm that formed in her wake moved across Britain towards the scotish highlands.

*

From within the very cell Holly had left, an invisible figure watched them disappear into the clouds. A smirk came over their lips. A flick of the wand and they could feel the tracking charm still working. Turning on the spot they apperated away with a crack that echoed through the halls of Azkaban. If Potter thought she was going to run off and retrieve the wand before their master than she had another thing coming.

*

Hogwarts stood silently upon the horizon. The castle had been conquered half a dozen times over the last ten years. It had been held by both the Resistance and the Dark Lord at different times. Battle had damaged the castle and efforts to restore it had stopped and started more times than it had been held. It was in no way a ruin but years of proper care and unrepaired damage left the once great school looking sad and desolate.

The thunderbird animagus glided in atop the storm clouds, coming to land at the familiar quidditch pitch. Shifting back to her human form, Holly walked across the torn up pitch. It was depressing to see her first home worn down and broken like this. It was lifeless without students and teachers. Holly dared not look back as she hurried towards the castle. She did not need the Marauder's Map to know where she was going, her feet carried her through the familiar halls and up to the grand staircase.

The few portraits that remained were fast asleep as she climbed towards the third floor. Coming to the same door from first year she pushed it open to reveal a chillingly familiar room. It was like she had been here yesterday. Fluffy, the enchanted harp and most importantly the trapdoor filled her head. Fluffy was gone and Holly had no idea what had become of the harp but the trap door was still there. Kicking it open, she leapt into the darkness, landing with a thunk against the dead devil's snare. Although the plant had long perished due to lack of care it was enough to cushion her fall.

The chambers beyond here were similarly abandoned or run down. Holly walked through them all without a problem before coming to the last room. A chill went down her spine as she stepped up towards the Mirror of Erised. Staring into the mirror she watched as her breath fogged up the glass. Holly knew what she needed. She needed the Elder Wand. She needed it so that Voldemort could not lay his hands upon it. That was all it took for the wand to appear in her pocket.

"Don't even think about it Potter," a chilingly familiar voice said behind her as she felt a wand poke into her back.

"Malfoy," Holly growled as she looked into the mirror to see his face appear in the air behind her. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the cloak around his shoulders,  _ her cloak _ . "You don't want to do this."

"Shut it Potter," Draco sneered jabbing the wand into her. "Hands up and away from that wand." Holly did as was asked of her, keeping her hands held high. Malfoy reached around with his wandless hand to pluck his prize from her pocket. "The Elder Wand…" He turned it around in his hands as he stepped back from Holly but kept his other wand trained on her. "To think I was once the master of the most powerful wand in the world and I did not even know it."

She laughed as she watched him in the mirror. "Malfoy you were only its master because of a mistake that Albus made," Holly said turning to face her former yearmate. "But then again is that not the perfect way to sum up your life? One big mistake after another."

"I am going to enjoy killing you Potter," Draco said lowering his own wand as he rose the Elder Wand at her.

"I wouldn't do that Malfoy. You're making another mistake," she taunted him with a grin.

"The only mistake ever made was letting you live Potter," he said preparing to bring the wand to bear down on Holly.

"It's the same mistake your master made," Holly said watching as Draco paused, doubting himself. "I'm right ain't I?" Her gaze turned from Draco to his side.

"Who are you talking to?" Draco said flicking his wand in the direction Holly was looking while keeping the Elder Wand trained on her. " _ Homenum Revelio _ ." He shook his head as no one else was revealed. "No more stalling Potter. I am going to finish what my master started." He pointed the Elder Wand at Holly. "Avada Ked…"

Holly threw out her hand towards Draco and watched as the wand was ripped from his grasp. She held the familiar wand and waved it at Draco before he could bring his own to bear on her. " _ Expelliarmus. _ " The blast of magic from the Elder Wand not only disarmed Draco but sent him flying through the air back towards the chamber doors. He slammed into the wall before falling on his face. "I was right… wasn't I Albus?"

Dumbledore nodded as Holly stepped forward and collected Draco's wand and her invisibility cloak that had been discarded on the floor. "Yes," the ghost of Albus Dumbledore said. "The wand still recognises you as its master, not Mister Malfoy." Holly smiled as she wrapped the familiar cloak around herself. For the first time since she gave up the Elder Wand, the Master of Death held all three Deathly Hallows.

Draco groaned as he pulled himself up to his knees. He had a nasty cut across the back of his head, blood already staining his blonde hair. "Potter…" he said looking up to Holly who held the Elder Wand towards him. "Please…"

"Sorry Draco," Holly said, shaking her head. "No one can know I have the wand and I am not confident enough in my memory charms to leave you alive."

"No please…"

" _ Avada Kedavra _ ."

The flash of green hit Draco and he fell down once more. This time he would not be getting back up. Stumbling back, Holly felt the air around her become thick. It was hard to breathe. She was shaking. Draco was not the first person she had killed. Many had died during her service within the Resistance. She had become surprisingly brutal to ensure no one bested her in a dual less the mastery of the Elder Wand pass onto another. But Draco had been different. He had been unarmed and helpless. He had also been someone she had known since she was 11 years old.

"You did what you had to… Holly," Albus said as he stepped in beside his former student. "Catch your breath and get ready to move. If Mister Malfoy was here…"

"Others can't be far behind him," Holly said as she managed to get her breath back. "I need to leave." She turned in the room, surveying it once more as she prepared to leave. A glint in the mirror caught her eye. Stepping towards it she gasped as she saw a crack running across the glass. "What the… Albus the mirror is broken. Albus?" She glanced over to the ghost only to see him frozen still. "Albus!"

Her voice echoed around the room. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Glancing back to the mirror she saw the crack had widen and started to spread. Beyond it she could see… empty space. It was nothing but not in the way that there was nothing there rather that there had never been anything there. It was a portal to nothingness. Holly gasped her chest as she realised what was wrong. Her heart had stopped beating. And her breathing… she did not need to breathe anymore. Movement around her caught her eye and she turned to see more cracks in the world. They formed not in the walls or floor but rather within space itself. The cracks were forming in reality. Tears in the fabric of the universe.

Holly turned back to the mirror and gasped as the crack tore open. A flash of white blinded her and images filled her head. A familiar white room, platform Nine and Three Quarters, Hermione's face, an assembly of cloaked figures, a templar knight, a large lightning bolt symbol upon the floor… the Mirror of Erised.

She blinked and the mirror sat before her, perfectly whole once more. No cracks across the smooth surface. Only instead of the 28 year old, Azkaban hardened metamorphmagus woman it showed a scrawny little 11 year old girl. She still had the cloak around her shoulders but there was no Elder Wand in hand or Resurrection Stone upon her finger. Around her reflected in the mirror was the family she had grown to know within the walls of Azkaban. Her mother and father smiling down upon her and relatives going back generations. All of them faded out of existence.

Instead they were replaced with the family she had made. Ron and Hermione wrapped their arms around her shoulders. Sirius smiled as he ruffled her hair. Remus and Tonks dotted over a little baby Teddy. Red hair took up most of the mirror as the rest of the Weasley clan stood to one side. Dumbeldore, Professor Mcgonagall, Snape and many of her other teachers stood proudly to the other side. Dobby was smiling up at "The Great Holly Potter". Luna and Ginny were close by near Ron, along with Neville who beamed at Holly. Hagrid stepped forward from among her teachers and released a familiar snowy white owl who flew over to Holly's shoulder. Hedwig nuzzled Holly's head as more and more of the people she loved came into frame.

James and Lily Potter would always be her parents and she would love them till the day she died. But this was the family she could have. The one she had a chance of having. The one she desired above all else. It was the one she had held onto all those dark nights within Azkaban. Her parents were dead, they had been since almost before she could remember. They were gone. Many of these people had been too. But now she had a chance to save them. Because Holly James Potter was…

"So, back again, Holly?"

It was that voice that made Holly finally lose it. Tears flowed from her eyes as she sniffled loudly. Turning around she came face to face with Albus Dumbledore. He was as young as she remembered him. Her years at Hogwarts had seemed to age the already elderly Headmaster considerably. To see him in the flesh, with that twinkle in his eyes, instead of his ghostly form. It broke the floodgates wide open. Holly Potter was back. She was home. She did not know why or how it had happened but the implications were clear. She had a second chance. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay that was chapter one, not sure just yet what I am doing but I invite you all to take this journey with me. All comments and feedback is appreciated :D


	2. Sirius Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly and Albus have a long talk and establish a rapport before making their first changes to the timeline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a small edit to the first chapter with Holly’s middle name. I had always been in two minds about it and after talking with a friend I decided to just keep it at James.
> 
> Also I have decided to try and update this weekly, every Thursday in my time zone, we shall see how that goes.

**Chapter 02:** Sirius Business

Albus Dumbledore had expected any number of reactions from Holly Potter when he had planned to confront her about the mirror. Of all the students within the castle, trust her to be the one to stumble across it. The Mirror of Erised was a dangerous artefact. Like the beauty of a Siren or charm of a Veela it had the power to draw men and women in with a magic stronger than most… desire. Although not directly harmful Albus knew that the mirror could cause harm. After all, it did not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. He knew this better than most.

The tears had been expected, seeing one’s dead family members did this to a person, Albus knew this from his own experience. But when she ran towards him and pulled him into a hug. That caught him by surprise. “Albus,” she sobbed into the front of his robes. Her grip was surprisingly strong around his waist. “You’re real… you’re really here. That means… I’m really back…”

“Yes, Holly,” Albus said still trying to regain his composure. Maybe the mirror had affected her worse than he thought. She pulled back from him to look up upon his face. There was something dark within her eyes and for a moment he saw a different person behind them. Just a flash of another pained orphan. There was something else going on and Albus could not restrain himself but glimpse into Holly Potter’s mind.

This was not the first time he had pried into her mind. He regularly read surface thoughts of the children of the castle. Of course, his oath to Hogwarts as Headmaster meant that he could not reveal these things without the child’s permission unless they endangered their own or someone else’s safety. But even under these limitations, many times he had been able to use this information to help them through difficult times in subtle ways. However, the Holly Potter’s mind he was familiar with was not the one he saw when he looked into her eyes.

Flashes of events not yet to happen filled his mind. They were scrambled thoughts and barely coherent, but he caught a few things. Among others he saw, the Deathly Hallows, the Horcruxes, Voldemort’s return, Sirius Black’s death, his own death, Snape’s death, Voldemort’s death… and second resurrection, the continuation of the Second Wizarding War, Holly’s imprisonment in Azkaban, the many that died, the torture, the pain, the sacrifice and… the cracks in reality. Before he could collect himself, he felt Holly shunt him out. Her occlumency barriers came online and they were like a sledgehammer against his mental probe.

He stumbled back but Holly grasped him, stopping him from tripping over his own robes. “You saw,” Holly said, a lump catching in her throat.

“Indeed,” Albus said, his head still reeling. “It seems my words were more appropriate than I gave myself credit. Welcome back once more Holly. I am most curious about how you managed this but that can wait. I think some privacy is in order.” He flicked out his wand and watched as her eyes trained on the familiar Hallow. Casting his privacy charms and pulling on the wards of Hogwarts for extra protection he sealed off the classroom.

Holly produced her own wand and tried to add to the protections in her own way. “ _Muffliato_.” Holly felt like she was trying to push dried cement through a pin hole. The spell fizzled and she felt a slight backlash, like a resistance within herself. Furrowing her brow, she flicked her wand about and tried once more. “ _Muffliato_.” This time she pushed hard and was rewarded with the feel of the spell going off correctly, but it almost knocked the wind right out of her. She staggered and fell into a chair.

“Holly?”

“I’m okay,” Holly said with a huff as she looked up into the concerned eyes of the Headmaster. “Just… pushed myself a bit.”

She watched as he cast several diagnostic charms that she recognised from her time in the hospital wing upon her. “It appears that your body is not ready to handle such advanced magic,” Albus proclaimed. “You may have the memories and skills from your years at Hogwarts but your body is still that of a first year.” He did not mention that she was surprisingly undernourished and had a range of old injures. Damn those bigoted muggles and the blood wards that required them and damn himself for not picking that up sooner. “It is only minor magical exhaustion. So, rest and your magic shall recover within an hour or two.”

Holly frowned. She was no stranger to magical exhaustion and a minor case usually took her a few moments to recover from. It was like catching her breath. “My core feels as strong as it always has but it’s like my body can’t channel all that magic at once,” Holly said.

“Exactly right,” Albus said with a nod. “Imagine if you will that your core is the source for your magic, the well of power, but the channels running through your body are only so wide, they are still growing and have only ever handled so much magic. Your core came back with your soul and mind, but the channels of your older body remained in that old timeline. Now you will have to build them up all over again. That will take time and effort, but you have the advantage of your knowledge and your core to back you up. Right now, you just flushed those channels with a burst of magic that has done some temporary damage and clogged them up. But that will heal, growing back stronger and wider, clearing up. It is like a muscle. You must use it and push it. Tear it so that it can grow back even stronger than before.”

“Then I should just keep channelling as much magic through it as possible?” Holly asked. “That way it will get bigger and stronger faster.”

“Ah, but beware of over straining yourself,” Albus said pulling out his lecturing tone. “That can do far more damage than good.” He paused a moment to reach into his robes for a small pouch. From which he withdrew a lemon shaped yellow candy that he placed in his mouth before offering it to Holly. “Lemon drop?”

Holly did not waste a moment in taking the muggle candy from Albus. She had missed this man. There were things that his ghost could never fully emulate. “Thank-you,” she said sucking on the citrus flavoured candy. “But… what are we going to do now?”

“That my girl is precisely the question,” he said perching up on one of the student’s desks aside Holly. “You are the woman that has fought against Tom longer even than I, you have killed him not once but twice, mastered all three Deathly Hallows, destroyed at least one of his Horcruxes and survived years in Azkaban only to travel 17 years back through time into your younger body, a feat unseen till now. I think this is your fight and your decision. You tell me what we should do.”

Holly suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility slam down upon her. It was like when she had first taken up the fight against Voldemort after Dumbledore’s death. Only this time the much more competent wizard was here, and he was asking her to lead him? That was crazy. She was not ready for any of this. Holly could barely wrap her head around the time travel let alone this mess. The inner conflict must have shown on her face for Dumbledore placed a hand upon her shoulder.

“Relax Holly,” he said. His hold upon her was calming. “I am not asking you to make all these decisions now. There are some minor things we will need to decide from the get-go but as far as I am concerned this is your fight. My assistance is here if you desire it.”

“Okay,” Holly said taking a deep breath. “Let’s get those out of the way. What do we start with?”

“How shall we conduct ourselves relative to the timeline?” Albus asked as if he was simply calling on Holly in class to answer a question. “Do we make major changes right now or do we try and abide to the timeline? Making the best use of our future knowledge.”

“The second option seems smarter,” Holly said. Dumbledore inclined his head towards her. “… but I can’t sit back and let things play out the way they did. I can’t let Cedric die, or Dobby or… Sirius… Sirius!” Holly leapt to her feet. “Sirius is in Azkaban!”

“Easy Holly,” Albus said as he pulled her back into her seat. “We’ll deal with that.” He flicked his wand and a piece of chalk flew up to the nearby blackboard writing down ‘Free Sirius Black’. “From the brief things I saw in your head I know he is innocent, but we need a plan to address this. Though first, for my own sake, how about a list of things we need to focus on. Let’s get some priorities straight.”

“Right,” Holly said before rising slowly to her feet. She walked across the room and plucked the piece of chalk out of the air before writing on the board. About a minute later she stepped back from it and gave it a nod. “I think these are the major things that overall we need to focus on… at least his year and in the long-term.”

“Hmmm,” Dumbledore hummed as Holly stepped away and he read the board.

_Free Sirius Black:  
\- Capture Wormtail (Peter Pettigrew) and prove Sirius’ innocence_

_Find and Destroy Horcruxes (Do not start too soon):_  
\- Diary (Malfoy)  
\- Resurrection Stone (Gaunt Shack)  
\- Slytherin’s Locket (? – Fake One is in the Cave)  
\- Hufflepuff’s Cup (?)  
\- Something of Ravenclaw’s (?)  
\- Nagini (?) – Is she even a Horcrux Yet?  
\- Professor Quirrell – Main Soul (Hogwarts)  
\- Me

_Collect the Hallows:_  
\- Cloak (Me)  
\- Wand (Dumbledore)  
\- Stone (See Horcruxes)

_The Philosopher’s Stone:_  
\- Stop Tom acquiring it and ensure he does not go after it anymore (Destroy it like last time?)  
\- Save Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel (Their notes on Alchemy and other magic helped the Resistance greatly in the war. Having them on our side would be a boon.)

_Erode Tom’s Recruitable Forces:_  
\- Werewolves  
\- Giants  
\- Vampires  
\- Dementors  
\- Any Other ‘Dark’ Creatures  
\- Death Eaters

_Fix Hogwarts:_  
\- Wards and Other Protections  
\- Remove Ministry Control and Oversight (Regent Laws)  
\- Competent Professors

Dumbledore felt his eyebrows raise as he read through Holly’s surprisingly detailed lists. Some of them were quite aspirational. Not to mention enlightening. To have confirmation that Tom had not only succeeded in making one Horcrux but several, one of which being Holly herself… Albus had suspected things were not as they seemed but this was beyond even his wildest theories. And that did not even go onto the things he had no clue about. Peter Pettigrew was alive and what were these Regent Laws?

“I know it’s a lot,” Holly said nervously glancing over to Dumbledore. “And there’s more but this is what I can think of right now.” She looked uneasy between him and the board.

“You have your own first priority,” Albus said with a nod. He could see Holly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “We’ll take care of that, I promise Holly. But first I would like to ask a few pressing questions, if I may?” She nodded at him. “The Horcruxes. You know of all of them, but you wrote there about ‘not to start too soon’… what does that mean?” 

“That’s the mistake we made last time. Well the second mistake we made,” Holly said her eyes suddenly unable to look at Albus. “Tom can only split his soul into seven pieces, counting his main dominant soul piece. But if you destroy a piece… it returns to him and he can make a new Horcrux. That’s what he did after his second resurrection, made a new one to replace the Resurrection Stone that you had destroyed before my sixth year. We suspect he did the same with Nagini after the diary was destroyed in my second year. Right now, there’s his diary, the Resurrection Stone, Slytherin’s Locket, Hufflepuff’s Cup, something of Ravenclaw’s, myself, and Professor Quirrell containing his main soul piece. That’s seven.”

“Indeed,” Albus said trying hard to ignore the fact that Holly was one of the vessels for Tom Riddle’s soul. “A magical number that has long been theorised to be connected to soul magic. What was the Horcrux he created after his second resurrection?”

“The Sword of Gryffindor,” Holly said bowing her head. “You had used it to destroy the soul fragment within the Resurrection Stone so we hoped to use it on more Horcruxes but that was before we…”

“Holly?”

She steeled herself before glancing up at Albus. Once more her eyes were wet with tears. “I’m so sorry Albus. I failed you,” Holly said her hands shaking. “You left us a task before you died. To hunt down and destroy the Horcruxes, but I… I lost faith. When the locket turned out to be fake and when my friends turned to me on what to do next… the clues you had left us, I couldn’t figure them out. Then at the wedding Luna… she offered us another path. Another way to destroy Voldemort. She told us of the Hallows and her belief that my cloak was one of them. I thought if I could gather the Hallows and become the Master of Death, I could bypass his soul anchors completely and keep him dead.”

Holly’s breath shuddered and she took a moment to gather herself before continuing. “I had to make a decision between Hallows or Horcruxes… and I think I made a mistake.” She sniffled loudly. “It’s all my fault… I failed.”

In an instant Dumbledore was there. His arms around her small form, pulling her close as he rubbed her back. “Holly James Potter… it is not your fault,” he said softly. “None of Tom’s actions are anyone else’s fault but his own. We all play a role in things, but at the end of the day we cannot decide another’s actions and failing to stop them from acting is not the same as being at fault. You did what you felt was right, and although it went badly that time, you have another chance to set it right. But this time… we’ll do it together.”

“Thanks,” Holly said as she pulled away from her Headmaster. She reached into her pockets, fishing for a hanky, only for Albus to offer her a conjured tissue that she used to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. “Okay… so to finish that off. We decided to hunt Hallows instead of Horcruxes. Tracking down the Elder Wand was tricky and to learn that it had been right under our nose the whole time with your body at Hogwarts made us feel a little foolish. By then he had caught onto what we were up to. It was a race for the wand and then the battle happened during which I discovered the Resurrection Stone had been with us all along, you had given it to me in a snitch that I caught… will catch next year.”

They both shared a half-hearted grin at the change of past tense to future tense. “Tom thought that if he killed Snape, who had killed you on your own orders, he would become the master of the Elder Wand. But Draco Malfoy had beaten Snape to the punch and disarmed you before Snape had killed you. That made him the master of the Elder Wand and we had already ran into him in Austria when we went to see Grindelwald.” Holly could see Albus become misty eyed at the mention of the man from his past. “Draco had been tracking us and trying to bring us in to win favour and restore the Malfoy name within the Death Eater ranks. He got the jump on us, but I bested him and won mastery of the Elder Wand.

“Of course, Tom assumed himself to be the master so when he faced me with the wand, I was ready. He tried to kill me, but I called on the wand and it came to me allowing me to turn his own killing curse back on him. At that moment I held all the Hallows and the Death Eaters watched as I struck down their master.” Her own eyes glazed over as she looked off into space. “Many just threw down their wands right than and there, others continued to fight or fled but, in the end, we won. It cost us too damn much. Remus, Tonks, Fred, Lavender, Colin, who I just realised doesn’t even go here yet, wild, and even Snape, that greasy git…”

“Holly please…”

“I know Sir,” Holly said her eyes meeting with his once more. “I learned why he did what he did, in both wars. I know the sacrifices he had made and the ones he will be asked to make. I know that he was… is protecting me but… he’s still a right git.” Her eyes twinkled with mirth not unlike Albus’ own were known to do on occasion. “Anyway, that bought us about a month or so of peace… before he was resurrected again, and the war continued on. We’d only just managed to cobble together a semi-working government again with Shacklebolt as acting Minister when they struck.

“I was there that day, at the Ministry. I duelled him again, but he was ready for me this time, ready to face the Elder Wand.” Holly fidgeted with her own wand. It had been so long since she had held the holly and phoenix feather wand. It was a comfort to hold. “I could not best him, but I could hold him off long enough to evacuate. Ron and Hermione managed to drag away a wounded Shacklebolt and rally the survivors, they retreated back to Hogwarts, the only stronghold we had right now following the battle a month ago there. Within minutes we were being overwhelmed, I could hold off Tom for that long at most, I was never in his or your league.” She gave Dumbledore a nod of respect. “But when it came down to it… I realised something. If he beat me here… he would have both the Elder Wand and the mastery of it. I couldn’t let that happen. So, I…”

“You ran,” Albus said. He could see the guilt welling up in Holly’s eyes. “You did the right thing. You denied him what he wanted and went to where you could help others. That was the right move Holly.”

“It cost more lives,” she spat. Anger at herself behind her guilt. “I sacrificed them. I could have held on longer. Could have waited for more people to escape. But they were blocking off the exits. If I had not moved then, and gotten out…”

“Tom would have gotten the wand,” Albus said as he withdrew the Elder Wand and held it before him. “This.” He gestured with the fifteen-inch-long wand. “Would be in the hands of the worst Dark Lord I have ever faced. In the wrong hands it can cause so much death and destruction. I cannot imagine what terrible things he would have done with it.” He held it out to Holly. “From what I have heard Holly… perhaps you are the correct person to hold onto it.”

She reached out to grasp the wand in Dumbledore’s hand. It resonated with power. She could feel it calling to her. She was not its master, but she could be. All she needed to do was turn her own wand on Dumbledore and…

“No,” Holly said shaking her head as she closed Dumbledore’s hand around the wand. “I realised why the wand needs to be mastered before it can be used to its full power. It needs the strongest wielder possible to protect it from falling into those wrong hands. That is not me… not yet.” He smiled down at her. “But one day, when I can face you in a dual and win, really win. Then, and only then, will I accept it from you.”

“As you wish Holly,” Albus said taking his wand back. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue where she had left off, but she looked uncertain. “You do not need to speak more on this tonight.”

“It’s better if I get it out of the way now,” Holly said. “Okay so at Hogwarts we rallied, and Hermione found these old laws that allowed us to appoint a government in exile here at Hogwarts to oppose Voldemort’s self-appointed Ministry. We appointed Shacklebolt the Regent and sort of declared Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and most of Scotland into a separate country or region or something like that.” She shrugged. “Hermione understood it better. But basically, this turned it from an internal civil war within magical Britain into an international magical war. That way we were able to call on the International Confederation of Wizards and to relocate the Wizengamot to here.”

“Very clever,” Albus said. “If I could I would award house points to Miss Granger but alas I feel that awarding points for events of dead timelines to be rather… pointless.” The humour was welcomed to Holly as she smirked back at the old man. “That would have given you a lot more legitimacy and slowed down Tom’s war efforts considerably.”

“It did,” Holly said. “Helped that his army was disassembled and in shambles, half of them dead or in prison, but it was only a matter of time till he rebuilt his forces. I decided that I could not stay hidden behind these walls forever, but I could not risk the wand falling into his hands. So, I decided to hide the wand and go out to help. I made use of an old trick of your’s Albus and a certain mirror.” She glanced from him to the Mirror of Erised before looking back to catch a nod of approval. “Close to a year I spent on the frontlines. I tried to hunt Horcruxes but by now he had caught on that I knew about them, so he kept them on the move, behind powerful protections and checked in on them regularly. That’s why I have no idea where half of the current ones are. I never discovered their original hiding places. Not that it mattered once they caught me.

“But even before then we were losing the war. Slowly and steadily he was gaining more forces while ours dwindled. I got pinned down, far behind enemy lines, I had been foolish but one of his generals wielding the Sword of Gryffindor had been right there. I could not have resisted. I later found out it was a trap and that seven of his generals had been wielding ‘Swords of Gryffindor’ or rather the best replicas the goblins would sell him,” Holly said chuckling dryly. “Tom showed up and tried to dual me… I did not give him the satisfaction, threw my wand down and surrendered. The look on his face was worth it.

“He raised his wand to kill me and that’s when you showed up.” Albus raised an eyebrow at this. “Your ghost at least. I had the Resurrection Stone at that point, so it was not a big surprise. You told me what I was.” She reached up and pointed to her scar. “That I had a piece of him in me. I used this information on Tom. He was shocked but it was like a light bulb went off in his head. He understood what it all meant now. He knew he could not kill me. He was many things. A monster. A madman. Incapable of love. Hate filled. A half-blood bastard.” Holly laughed. “But of all things… he was vain to a fault. He spared me.”

“Really? As vain as I thought Tom was that is a new high,” Albus said, surprise across his bearded face. “To spare his greatest enemy, his one prophesied weakness… simply because a small part of him was inside you, it’s absurd.”

“I thought that too,” Holly said with a nod. “Especially because at that stage he had clearly figured out he could create more Horcruxes when he lost one. Maybe he realised he finally had the seven separate soul pieces he desired and did not want to give that up? Maybe he did go actually mad and the compulsion to remain immortal meant he could not bring himself to destroy one of his own Horcruxes? Or maybe Tom was still that little boy at the orphanage that had a compulsion to collect his trophies and I was just another one to add to his trophy case? Either way he locked me up and tortured me through my loved ones for nearly a decade. Fun times.”

“Holly… I cannot express how sorry I am to hear that you had to go through that,” Albus said placing his arm around Holly’s shoulder. “I will do all I can to help you recover from your ordeal and assist you in any way I can with your new tasks.” He gestured to the blackboard with his wand. “Much of this will need to be discussed later. I will save it all for then.” With a flick the text faded away till one topic alone remained. “But first I think we should focus on this.” Holly looked at the board to see what remained.

_Free Sirius Black:_

_\- Capture Wormtail (Peter Pettigrew) and prove Sirius’ innocence_

“Thank-you once more Albus,” Holly said leaning into the older man. “I am in your debt.”

“Nonsense my girl,” Albus said gently holding her shoulder. “This assistance is freely given and with no strings attached. We shall help each other. Now tell me what needs to happen with Peter Pet…” He felt Holly shake at the name. “Wormtail.” She nodded in approval at his nickname.

“Wormtail faked his own death because he was a spy for Voldemort and the secret keeper for my parents,” Holly blurted out all in one breath.

“I would feign surprise but that seems like just the thing your parents and Sirius would come up with,” Albus said with a sigh. “They always had a trick up their sleeve and swapping out the most likely candidate for the least likely is very… them.” He tried not to show the anger he also felt at Peter’s betrayal and Sirius’ innocent incarceration, but he clearly felt the air around him grow warmer as his magic flared. He was very close to releasing sparks when he felt Holly’s own magic flare. There was a venomous look in her eyes, and he could see her hair shifting from the deep ebony to a fiery red that would rival the Weasleys. “Where is he now?”

“Here,” Holly growled. “He’s an unregistered animagus, just like my father and Sirius, his form is a rat. Fitting for the traitorous coward. He’s hiding as Ron’s rat Scabbers. Probably curled up with him right now in his bed.” Holly growled. “I want to kill him.”

Albus felt the fire in Holly’s words, the flare of her magic dwarfed his own as her anger increase tenfold. “Calm yourself Holly. Often, I find cooler heads make mistakes far less than those who let anger push them to rash action,” Albus said. He noted that she visibly flinched at the word ‘mistakes’ but his words seemed to have effect on her. Her magic died down as she took a deep breath and her hair shifted in colour back to its normal black. “As confident in our abilities as I am to take Mister Petti… Wormtail together I do not believe we can chance him escaping. In the end it is your decision, but I believe we are better to ensure he does not bolt at the first sign of trouble. In fact, if we could ensure he felt safe here but was rattled enough to slip up and make a mist…” He saw Holly start to recall. “… miscalculation than we can catch him out.”

“I have some ideas about that,” Holly said giving Albus a hard look. “If possible, I will need to make a trip to Diagon Alley before term starts but I think the best way to make him stay put is to give him an outside danger. Hogwarts is after all, a very safe place. Some may even say, the safest.” The sarcasm dripping off her words was emphasised by a roll of her eyes. Albus made a mental note to brace himself when she decided to tell him of the rest of her years at Hogwarts. “Perhaps a deranged madman who is out for revenge after breaking out of an inescapable prison and knows that Wormtail can hide as a rat, how does that sound?”

“Perfect,” Albus said with a nod. “I can arrange the trip to Diagon Alley for you and the moment we have a plan to break Sirius out of Azkaban I will be at your beck and call.”

The smile Holly flashed him reminded him of a certain group of students from over 10 years ago. “What about we break him out the same way I broke myself out?” Holly asked and Dumbledore returned her grin.

*

Alastor Moody, better known as Mad-Eye Moody, grumbled as he walked the cold dark halls of Azkaban. If there was one part of life as an Auror he would not miss when he retired in the new year, it would be shifts like these. No one wanted Azkaban shifts, especially this time of year, between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but they were a good teaching point for Auror recruits and even some of the older guard. Made sure you did not forget the hell hole you were sending these criminals too.

Besides, Moody sure as hell did not trust the dementors to do their job. They had proven they could be turned quite easily in the war with Voldemort. It reassured him to know there were human guards here as well to keep everything in order. Even if they were mostly here to respond to anything the dementors could not handle and keep a look out for break ins. Speaking of which, he turned his magical eye to the south-east. There was a mighty big storm blowing in. The lightning in it was violent enough to render the magical sensors of his eye near blind.

He grumbled as he made his way down the rest of the high security wing. It was time to call in the wall watchmen and make sure everyone battened down the hatches. Storms were not uncommon to Azkaban, even one this big, but precautions were best taken. The prisoners would take the brunt of it, in their windowed cells, but anyone unfortunate enough to be out on the sides of the prison where the worst of the dementors travelled deserved it. Honestly, as far as Moody was concerned half the prisoners here should have just been given the kiss and be done with it. None of them were getting out of here alive let alone with their sanity intact. Least of all the one in the cell he passed by on his way out.

Within that cell, a cold and shivering pile of fur and bone shuddered as he listened to the hobble of the wooden legged Auror over the rumble of the approaching thunderstorm. Sirius Black whimpered. His grim animagus form helped him fight off the worst of the dementors and on a good day his passable occlumency skills made up for the rest of it… at least on a good day. But those days were few and far between. 10 years in this place will sap away even the strongest person’s will to live, let alone stand up.

Time was impossible to track here for the prisoners. So, it was with mild surprise that he blinked, and the distant storm was suddenly atop him. Rain swept in through his tiny bared window as frigid winds swept into the cell. The lightning blinded him at each flash as thunder made him whine in fear. He understood now more than ever why dogs hated storms. They were like monsters bearing down upon him. The lightning was striking so close he could smell the burning ozone around him. The thunder seemed to shake the very foundations of the prison.

Another flash lit up his whole cell. He closed his eyes and tried to retreat further into his mouldy old blankets. The light remained even as the thunder continued. Even with his eyes closed it was still blinding. Another sensation came over him. Something he had not felt in the last decade. A wave of happiness. Euphoria so strong it hurt swept over him. But it was a million times better than the dementor’s presence. He opened one eye to see the white glowing figure of a phoenix perched on his window. The bird paused a moment and then opened its mouth.

“Sirius,” a voice he never dreamed of hearing again said. “Get back from the window. We are coming to rescue you. Be ready.”

As Albus’ words washed over him, Sirius felt his heart lunge into his throat. This was too good to be true. This had to be a dream. But he knew better than that. No dreams this hopeful were ever had at Azkaban. Pulling on a reserve of strength he did not know he had had till this moment, he got up onto his four legs. Crawling away from the window towards the door he cringed as he moved away from the warmth of the patronus but the promise of a greater prize kept him going. Dumbledore was coming. Sirius was going to be free.

Slumping down at the far end of the cell, he rolled over onto his side, looking at the phoenix patronus perched up on the window. From behind the phantasmal bird something large swooped down from the storm, clouds of lightning clinging to the shape as it moved to the window. A figure stood upon it and raised a wand. They waited a moment, timing their spell perfectly with a deafening clash of thunder.

“ _BOMBARDA MAXIMA!_ ”

The highly magical resistant and blasting proof bars proved to be nothing against Albus and his Elder Wand powered exploding charm. The residual magic in the air around him from Holly’s thunderbird animagus form assisted him greatly as well. A large hole had been blown through the window and a good portion of the wall that had once been Sirius Black’s secure cell. Holly’s plan had been rather simple and maybe best described as a brute force approach.

Perhaps it was the straightforwardness of the plan that made it so effective. Within moments Albus had jumped into the cell, dragged a delirious and weak black dog onto the back of Holly’s thunderbird form, which was using all six wings to hover in place, and was ready to add the last touch to the plan. He raised the Elder Wand and pulled on his magical reserve. Breaking through the wall had been easy compared to what he was about to do. Focusing on the dust and debris scattered about the cell he cast his spell.

“ _Reparo_.”

The disassembled wall fragments pieced themselves back together. The dust reformed into solid brick as the bent iron bars buckled back into position and merged with the bricks once more. Within seconds the wall looked untouched. Albus smiled to himself. Even after all these years, magic never ceased to amaze him. He leaned down and wrapped a cloak, enchanted with the warming charm, around Sirius’ prone form. “Holly, take us home,” he said and the thunderbird screeched before turning around and pushing off the wall with her giant talons. They raced up into the clouds, static electricity keeping Dumbledore and Sirius held in place better than any sticking charm. Just one of many of Holly’s magical features of her animagus form that made it so powerful.

*

Professor Minerva McGonagall prided herself on being prim and proper. Sure, she allowed herself to stray from these principles every so often and in a school full of growing children it was alright to encourage outlandish behaviour… _occasionally._ After all there was a time and place for such inhibitions to be put to the wayside. But at her core was a sense of responsibility to both her own good name and that of the house she was so proud to be a head of. That was why it was with no small effort she forced herself each and every day to be out of bed and ready for the day before the sun was even up. Admittedly not hard to do on this cold morning during the winter break but as always, she was the only teacher up this early in the staff room.

Making her way over to the curtains, she tried to ignore the stiffness in her back as she waited with bated breath for the house elves to prepare her a steaming warm cup of tea. Flinging open the curtains she almost fell back in shock at what came hurtling towards her. Blocking out the rising sun, a large dark winged bird barrelled past the staff room window, pulling up at the last moment to avoid a nasty collision. The giant bird was surprising enough to Professor McGonagall, but it was the form of the elderly Headmaster with an elated look upon its back that really rattled her. She was worryingly reminded of seeing Miss Potter pull off a similar stunt earlier in the year.

Clutching her heart, she stepped back from the window and turned around, shifting into her cat animagus form, before scurrying out of the staff room. She sprinted down the halls as fast as her cat from would let her go, leaping down the flights of stairs of the grand staircase and sliding down banisters. As she had said there was a time and place to stop being prim and proper… this was one of those times. It was a pair of red headed twins that turned their heads with her as she darted between them and gracefully leapt from a landing down to the ground floor.

“Was that…”

“… Professor McGonagall?” the other twin finished, both staring in disbelief.

McGonagall had no time to even consider the Weasley twins as she skidded around a corner and out into the snow-covered courtyard. She was sure she had seen the bird come down somewhere around here. Sure enough, there was Albus, seated on a bench near a frozen fountain. He was sucking on one of his sour muggle sweets as he hummed a soft tune to himself. There were no signs of any giant birds.

She took a moment to regain her breath before transforming into her ridged form. “Headmaster?” McGonagall said as she approached him.

“Ahh, Professor McGonagall,” Albus said as if only noticing her for the first time this morning. “Lovely weather we are having.” 

He could hide most things from Minerva, but she was no one’s fool. It had been a minute, two at most, since she had seen him from the staff room. He may have charmed the wrinkles out of his robes, managed to catch his own breath and cleaned the frost from his glasses but she could see the signs he missed. “You seem to have enjoyed it more than most,” she flicked her wand at him, hitting the frozen stiff beard with a combination warming and drying charm.

“Thank-you Minerva,” Albus said as if she had just solved a particularly vexing puzzle for him. “I have to admit to having partaking in a spot of early morning flying.”

“Yes, well next time Headmaster be sure to not come so close to taking out the staff room during your early morning flying,” McGonagall said pursing her lips together as she eyed him over. She knew better than to ask questions that she would not get answers to.

“Sound advise as always,” Albus said his eyes twinkling behind those half-moon spectacles. “A couple things since you seem to be up and around this early in the morning.” She inclined her head towards him. “Miss Potter will not be around today. Ensure her friend Ronald Weasley or any of his brothers do not needlessly worry about her.”

“Albus?”

“It is a private matter between Miss Potter and myself,” he explained. “I will talk to you about it later away from prying ears.” He gave a big wave to the ghost of the Fat Friar who was passing through the yard. The Friar returned the wave with just as much joy. “Do not worry yourself about her. She is in no trouble or danger though I suspect that Mister Weasley may be worried about both those things when he awakens to find her missing from the common room.”

“I will ensure he is notified that she is… in your care today?”

“Tell him she is receiving guidance counselling and advise from myself,” Albus said. “That is as close to the truth as I believe Miss Potter would allow right of this moment.” Professor McGonagall gave a stiff nod. “Also have Severus and Poppy report to my office this morning after breakfast.” The worry that had eroded from McGonagall’s face returned in full force. “It is not a major emergency Minerva. Do not worry. Just a medical consultation that I require with them. Nothing immediately important but not something I would like to broadcast to the whole student body or staff.”

“I understand Albus,” McGonagall said as she turned and stalked away.

Albus waited for her to finish walking away through the snow before he turned to the thin air beside him. “Are you two alright?” he asked.

“We’re fine,” Holly’s voice came from beneath her invisibility cloak. “But Padfoot is freezing out here in the snow. Even with the warming charm.” There was the sound of a whimpering dog from under the cloak as well.

“Then let us retire to my quarters,” Albus said standing up. “Follow me.”

*

Holly did not remember half the walk up to Dumbledore’s office and into his hidden quarters behind one of the many bookcases. She collapsed onto his bed and the last thing she remembered was Padfoot curling up beside her before she fell fast asleep. When she awoke later, in the afternoon, she had a vague recollection of waking briefly from a terrible nightmare. Albus had been on hand to offer her a dreamless sleep potion mixed with a warm broth. She had barely finished half of it before falling back asleep.

Glancing around the small but neat quarters of the Headmaster she saw that she was devoid of his presence. Instead there was a familiar phoenix perched on the bed head to greet her along with a passed-out dog across the foot of the bed. “Fawkes,” Holly said smiling up at the bird who was singing a quite but calming melody. “Good to see you buddy.”

The phoenix inclined his head at her as if to ask, _have we met?_

“Not yet… well I suppose now we have,” Holly said with a dry chuckle that became a long cough. She reached for a pitcher of water near the side of the bed and poured herself a glass. “That’s better.” She finished the glass and cleared her throat. “Is Albus around?” Fawkes nodded towards a single door. “Is he alone?”

There was a slight tweet to one of Fawkes’ musical notes, _do I look like his secretary?_

“Nah… that’s McGonagall,” Holly said with a grin as she pulled herself up and out of bed. Her whole body was stiff in places she was not sure she had body to be stiff in. The joys she supposed of flying with six wings from here to Azkaban and back. Pushing open the door, gently she peaked out into the Headmaster of Hogwarts’s Office. It was just as Holly first remembered it, grand and inviting. Her eyes lingered on every portrait, book, silver instrument or piece of ornate furniture as if wanting to take it al in for the first time once more.

“Good afternoon Holly,” Albus said from his desk with a smile. “Good to see you up and about after our rather grand adventure last night.”

“Albus,” Holly said stepping into the room. She would never grow tied of being able to talk to him without the Resurrection Stone. She had missed being able to see her loved ones without them having to endure great pain. “What has happened?”

“Nothing off significance yet,” Albus said gesturing for her to take the seat opposite him. “I have talked with Severus and Poppy. I made arrangements for potions to be made up for both yourself and Sirius to recover from your ordeals and I have moved the mirror. But beyond that not much. Word is yet to reach me of the Ministry’s missing prisoner.”

“I don’t need potions,” Holly said as she plonked down into the seat. “My body has not wasted away in Azkaban like Sirius’ has.”

“No but your consciousness and soul still bear the damage from years within those walls,” Albus stated his smile fading. “As for your body… you are not in much better shape than Sirius. Underfed and you have… old injuries that cannot just be explained away by a accident prone childhood.”

“Durzkaban,” Holly joked, trying to distract herself from those memories as she sealed them away deeper in her occlumency produced mindscape. Albus was even less amused by her joke. “Okay that was in poor taste but really Albus… that kind of pales in comparison to what Tom did to me.”

“I know,” he said with a sharp nod. “I do not know if my alternate timeline self ever picked up on it, but I will not stand for that in your life Holly. I will fix what physical damage has been done and offer whatever help I can with any mental scares you bear.” She flinched at his words. “It is merely an offer Holly. You do not need to take it, but it is there.” She nodded at him, forcing a small smile to her lips. “On top of that I shall also offer to ensure that does not happen again. I think it is time you left the care of your muggle relatives.”

“But what about the blood wards?”

“I have a plan for them,” Albus said a twinkle in his eyes. “I did some digging into other matters.” He produced a thick, leather bound tome. “Namely how we could explain your sudden gain of knowledge and magical ability. I considered suggesting you keep it secret but pretending to go through the motions of classes you had already attended seemed like a waste of time and likely to draw attention to you if you over performed.

“So instead I looked up old rituals and a variation on the apprentice/mentor ritual I used in my youth caught my eye.” He paged through the book till he came across a section labelled ‘Studiosum Oraculi’. “This is a blood ritual that fell out of practice after a refined version was crafted in the late 16th century. But it does the same thing as a modern-day Mentor/Apprentice joining ritual, links the apprentice’s magic to that of the mentors, only this one also makes them family by blood. Not as father and daughter or even uncle or niece, more of a blood brothers bond as eventually the student and master are meant to stand side by side.

“I believe it could satisfy the blood ward while also allowing you to explain that your extra magical power is coming from me and that the knowledge is what I have been teaching you. The wards could be intergraded into Hogwarts over the summer with ease. Though the one downside is that Hogwarts is a much larger area and the ward scheme far more demanding. Instead of spending a summer charging them I imagine we would have to spend a majority of the school year here. If this is okay with you and you are willing to…”

“Yes,” Holly said without a thought. “I was already half-considering of ditching the wards and not returning to Privet Drive already. This way we can keep the wards active and explain a lot of my other stuff. Also, we’ll be protecting all of Hogwarts from Voldemort… that’s the real icing on the cake.”

“I thought you might feel that way,” Albus said as he slid the book across to her. “But I insist that you study this in detail before making a final decision. I believe I have been open enough with this, but the decision is yours Holly and it always will be. So, arm yourself with the knowledge to make it.” She nodded as she turned the book around and started to read the detailed text. “Of course, we will need to wait till the correct date to conduct the full ritual, require Sirius’ permission as your guardian and a few ingredients from…”

“Who requires what permission from me?” a weary voice came from the door.

Holly discarded the book and turned to leap out of her chair at Sirius. “Padfoot,” she cried out almost knocking him off his feet.

“Ja… Lil… Holly!” Sirius exclaimed in shock as the eleven-year-old girl that he had not seen since she was in diapers nearly spear tackled him to the ground. “What are… I don’t… Albus?” He glanced up at the Headmaster. “Just what is going on?”

“I believe Holly and I have a lot of explaining to do,” Albus said leaning back in his chair. “So, I would make yourself comfortable Sirius. It is quite a story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of this was explanations from Holly but there were some key differences in her timeline to the canon that I had to cover. Basically, her choice to go after the Hallows over the Horcruxes very early on after Dumbledore’s death changed a lot. For example, she doesn’t even know where half of them are or even what Ravencalw’s is, let alone that it is right here within the school itself. There are some more minor changes but I will explore that as this goes on. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. Feedback and comments are as always, welcome and appreciated.


	3. Potions, Plans and Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After explaining to Sirius events in the old timeline and their plan for catching Wormtail, Albus and Holly get a visit from a bowler hat wearing Minister before Holly realises a vital tool might have already exposed her Godfather to danger. Later Neville receives a letter from Holly and joins her on a trip to see a certain wand maker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I am managing to keep to my schedule. Go me :D. Quick warning for mentions of child abuse and also some long discussions... not to mention exposure to Weasley twins, you have been warned.

**Chapter 03:** Potions, Plans and Promises

Explaining everything to Sirius took a few hours. He had many questions not just about the old timeline but about Holly’s life in general, especially about her life before the timelines diverged. By the end of it he was fuming and glaring at Dumbledore from across the desk. It was only Holly’s insistence that he restrain himself that stopped Sirius from pummelling Dumbledore to a bloody pulp. Suffice to say any desire he had to take rash action and get vengeance on Wormtail was squashed by his stronger desire to protect Holly.

Holly herself was not sure he fully understood that she was technically as mature, if not more, than any adult and fully capable of looking after herself and making her own decisions yet, but she appreciated the care he showed. Eventually he relented and dropped the questions for now. She was not sure what it would take for him to see her as more than the kid of his best friend but right now she was fine with this. Holly could cut Sirius some slack. He had only spent a decade in the literal worst place in the world. Dumbledore was now explaining the potions that he had Snape brew and Madam Pomfrey prepare.

“This one is a standard Nutrient Replacement Potion mixed with a Malnourishment Recovery Potion. They should be taken alongside food, three times a day,” Albus explained as he moved to a different set of vials that had a yellow glowing liquid in them. “These are variations of the Elixir to Induce Euphoria that are weakened but longer lasting. Take them first thing in the morning and they should last around twelve hours before the effects start to wear off. We will lessen the dosage as time goes on, but they should counteract the mental damage of the dementor effect upon you for the extended period you both remained in Azkaban.”

Both Sirius and Holly nodded as the Headmaster moved onto the next potion. This one was a chocolaty brown colour within the vial and was thick like syrup. “This is a Soul Replenishment Potion. Something Professor Snape has been working on for some time. This one only needs to be taken once but you have to drink all of it,” Albus said eyeing both Holly and Sirius. “Last is a Muscle and Fat Growth potion.” He indicated a bubbling green vial. “This one should be taken once a week after strenuous exercise. It will cause some weight gain so do not be surprised or worried by that.”

“Thanks Albus,” Holly said before elbowing a grumbling Sirius.

“Yeah… thanks,” Sirius murmured still pouting. As thankful as the man might have been for his rescue from Azkaban, he was still upset at Albus for placing Holly in the care of her abusive muggle relatives.

“Hey,” Holly said till Sirius turned to meet her eyes. “Just let it go Padfoot. Albus had no idea they would harm me or mistreat me in any way. As far as he was concerned he thought the protection my mother cast on me would out weigh any resentment they had for me. How could he have known they would harm me? So maybe he could have checked in a little more, but he was not the only one that neglected me.” Sirius looked sheepishly down at his goddaughter as she raised an eyebrow at him. “He made a mistake…” She still struggled to say that word. “… just like you did. Now he is trying to make up for it so cut him some slack, okay?”

“Alright,” Sirius reluctantly agreed. “But hey listen. I know I left you too. I went after Wormtail when I should have been there for you. I’m going to make that up to you.”

“I’m counting on it,” Holly said with a grin. “Maybe over the summer we can track down Moony and go on a proper Marauders’ holiday or something? It would be good to have him in the know as well. He could be very useful, and I miss him.”

“Damn right,” Sirius said with an enthusiastic fist pump. “Let’s get the band back together.” His smile was wafer thin, but it was there, a good sign to Holly. “Oh, that reminds me. You’re an animagus now. That means you get a Marauder name. What’s a good one for a thunderbird?”

“What about…”

Albus grinned to himself as he listened to the pair start to list suggestions. It warmed his heart that Holly had someone now to bond with besides himself. Keeping her former future life a secret would be hard and taxing on the girl. Especially when it came to her friends. It was good she had Sirius to share it with. A ping from the wards alerted him to an incoming floo traveller. “Sorry to cut in,” he spoke up. “But I believe we have a visitor coming through the floo. Right from the office of the Minister for Magic. I would suggest that Sirius disappear. Perhaps with the help of a certain cloak?”

Holly pulled out the invisibility cloak before handing it to Sirius. “Hide in a corner,” she advised.

“I remember this,” Sirius said with a grin as he took the cloak. “James and I used to use this all the time.” He smiled as he held the familiar cloak before standing up and pulling it around himself. “It’s a lot smaller than I remember it being.”

“Be quiet,” Holly hissed as the fireplace flared up with green flames. “You’re invisible not silent.”

“Good point… shutting up now,” Sirius whispered right before the Minister for Magic himself stepped through.

“Albus, I came immediately. Have you heard the news? Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. We need to do something about this right now. The school will need more protection, obviously. With Black out there and young Miss Potter attending…”

“Cornelius,” Albus cut in. “I am aware of the situation and I was just in the middle of explaining it to Miss Potter before you came around.”

“I…” Minister Fudge spluttered, catching himself, as he noticed for the first time that Holly was in the room. “Holly Potter…” He reached up and removed his lime green bowler hat. “Sorry I did not see you there.” His gaze turned back to Albus with a raised eyebrow. “I am sorry Headmaster Dumbledore, but did I hear you right just then? You were telling her… about Black?”

“Indeed,” Albus said as the Minister for Magic struggled to form a coherent sentence. “Events have come to light that means Miss Potter cannot return to her muggle relatives and seeing as Sirius Black is her legal guardian next after them.” Fudge’s eyebrows almost shot off his head at this news. Clearly, he had yet to do his homework on Sirius Black. “But worry not Cornelius we already have it well in hand. I have decided to offer Miss Potter an apprenticeship to both further her magical talent and ensure her safety. She will become a ward of mine.”

“The Girl-Who-Lived apprenticed to Albus Dumbledore,” Minister Fudge mused. “That sounds like an excellent opportunity.” He seemed to snap out of a daydream. “For both of you that is.” He was a little too hasty to clarify. “But does the ritual not require the approval of a magical guardian?”

“We have found an old alternative that I believe I can bypass using approval from Holly’s muggle guardians,” Albus explained.

“Good, good,” Minister Fudge said nodding vigorously. “Speaking of which, what exactly are these events that have come to light in regard to the muggle relatives?” He glanced from Albus to Holly. “If you do not mind me asking Miss Potter?”

Holly looked to Albus. “The Minister is likely to learn this anyway Holly, but I am sure he will keep this confidential as he is legally obliged to,” Albus said and got a nod from the girl to continue as Minister Fudge stood straighter. “Minister, Miss Potter has bought to light some cases of child abuse from her muggle relatives.” They both watched the look of shock play over Minister Fudge’s face before turning to one of panic.

“We must rectify this immediately,” Minister Fudge said his grasp on his hat tightening till he started to crumple it. “I will contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and have them dragged in and put under veritaserum and…”

“Please Cornelius,” Albus said cutting off the man as Holly did a good job of sinking into her chair and looking scared. “Miss Potter wants to handle this situation delicately and with as much anomality as the law will allow her… more if possible.”

“Of course, Albus, of course,” Minister Fudge said nodding so hard his head looked like it would fall off. “We will do all we can to investigate this and charge them to the full extent of the law while protecting Miss Potter. We will need statements and other such documentation as evidence.”

“That is one of the things Miss Potter and I have been working on today,” Albus said gesturing to a bundle of paperwork upon his desk that he had written up while Holly was talking to Sirius. “Full medical scans and accounts taken from pensive memories that we reviewed.” He tapped them with his wand and levitated them over into Fudge’s arms. “I trust you to take care of this Cornelius, for all our sakes.”

“Yes, I shall,” Minister Fudge said putting the bundle of paperwork under one arm.

“Thank-you Minister,” Holly cried as she bolted from her seat to pull the shocked Minister into a hug. “I knew I could count on you.” She pulled away from the hug to catch Albus’ eyes. There was a subtle nod of approval but a look that said she might be laying it on a little too thick.

“In any case,” Albus said pulling the attention of the stunned Minister back to him. “How about you deliver some good news to the press to keep them off your back while you conduct this investigation?” Minister Fudge seemed to perk up at this. “You may inform them that I have begun the initial preparations for a Ritual of Apprenticeship with Miss Potter, and we expect to have formed the bond by the summer solstice. The magical world has a new beacon of light.” It was Holly’s turn to give Albus the look that indicated he may be laying it on a bit thick.

Despite this Minister Fudge seemed to be eating it up. “Yes, yes, yes,” he repeated like a broken record player. “I will make sure to prepare a press release.” He looked between the two. “Is there anything else we can assist with?”

“No thank-you Minister,” Holly said retaking her seat. “Just…”

“Yes?” he prompted.

“Please try to keep my name out of the proceedings with my… relatives,” Holly asked. Memories of her fourth and fifth year with the press came to mind. “I really don’t want to go through that mess.”

“As Minister of Magic I swear to you Miss Potter I will do my utmost to respect your privacy in these nasty matters.” It was not a magically binding oath but the look in his eyes told Holly he would keep it all the same. She nodded at him. “If that is all I will be off.” He glanced back to Dumbledore. “I will keep you informed of these matters along with the hunt for Sirius Black. No matter where he is, we will catch him.”

“I am sure you will Cornelius,” Albus said coughing loudly to hide the stifled snigger from the back corner of the office. “We will discuss further protections upon the school at a later date, for now rest assured I am doing all I can to keep Miss Potter here safe and secure. If you hurry you might be able to make the evening paper with our news.”

“Very good,” Minister Fudge said glancing at his watch before turning around. “Good day Albus, Miss Potter.” He gave them each a wave as he pulled on his bowler hat and hurried back through the floo.

Not a second later there was a bout of barely contained laughter from the corner as Sirius pulled off the cloak. “Did you see his face when he said, ‘we will catch him’?” Sirius asked as he strode back around the desk and into his seat. “It looked like he was giving an election speech already. If only he had known… could you imagine if he found out I was right here under his nose!”

“As amusing as this may be Sirius,” Albus said, the corners of his own lips upturned into a smile. “We still have many things to do. Including proving your innocents.”

“Yes,” Holly said looking over at her godfather. “One of the reasons we broke you out now instead of catching Wormtail first was we want your escape to help flush him out into the open while keeping him here at Hogwarts.”

“The filthy traitor is here?” Sirius exclaimed his eyes going dark. “We should go after him now.”

“No,” Holly said shaking her head defiantly. “We can’t do that…” At Sirius’ raised eyebrows she explained further. “In the old timeline he managed to escape to Voldemort’s side. Helped him regain his power and come back fully into the world of the living as part of a prophecy that has not been made yet. We have a decent chance of taking him head on, the three of us probably could with ease but I don’t like even the smallest chance of him getting away, even as remote as it is. Because if he gets away…”

“… you might have a fully raised Voldemort to deal with,” Sirius said with a gulp. “In your timeline you said that did not happen till the end of your fourth year.”

“Yes, and even then, I felt whole heartedly unprepared,” Holly said. “I need time to build up my power and our resources before he comes back and starts another war. Plus there’s also the second prophecy to consider.”

“Indeed,” Albus said his soft but clear voice pulling their attention to him. “Prophecy has always been a fickle magic to deal with, it is the study of fate and the future. We have no idea what effect Holly’s time traveling has had upon the timeline. Rash action could well trigger that far too soon. And then we would be fighting fate itself and that is a battle few can claim to have won. But Holly has a plan to capture and deal with him that I believe may skirt around facing fate. She needs your assistance Sirius.” Sirius turned to his goddaughter with a questioning look.

“We’re going to use some old tactics from the other timeline,” Holly said flashing him her Marauders grin. “We’ll beef up security here, make it look like Dumbledore is trying to protect me from you while you make appearances in your grim form in and around Hogsmead. Make it look like you are trying to get into the school but being stopped by the defences. Of course we’ll have to subtly feed this information to Wormtail and make him think that if he tries to leave you’ll be there to catch him while also convincing him that being by me and in extension within Hogwarts is the best place to hide from you. But I think he will slip up and we can catch him before the summer if all goes well.” A look of hope flared up in Sirius’ eyes.

“There are a lot of ifs and buts with Miss Potter’s plan. Not to mention we are unsure if this will trick fate into holding off on delivering that prophecy or not. There are surmountable unknowns,” Albus stated making both Sirius and Holly look more than a little uncertain about it themselves. “But the one thing we can have any amount of certainty of is Wormtail’s behaviour. If it is anything like the old timeline than he should mirror his future actions in response to similar stimulus. The tricky part will be keeping a track of him without letting him catch onto the fact we are observing him.”

“You know it’s times like these I wish I still had the map,” Sirius said with a sigh as he slumped down into his chair. “I suppose I could create another one but without Remus and James’ help I don’t know if…”

“The map!” Holly yelled jumping to her feet with a panicked look in her eyes.

“Holly what is the…” Albus began only for Holly to turned from him to Sirius.

“Fred and George Weasley have the map,” Holly said and watched as a smile came over Sirius’ face.

“That’s good,” he said. “If we can get our hands on it…”

“No, it’s bad,” Holly said shaking her head. “If they are using it now or have been during any of the time you have been in the castle…”

Sirius’ smile fell as a look of alarm came over him. “Shit,” he swore. “We have to get that map.”

“Damn right,” Holly said glancing back to Albus. “It’s dinner time soon right?” He nodded. “I’ll be back fast as I can. Keep Sirius in your quarters. That’s not on the map so he should not show up.”

“Good idea,” Sirius said throwing her the cloak. “Take that in case you need it.”

Albus turned to Sirius as Holly dashed away. "You seem to understand what that was about," he said eyeing his former student.

"Yeah… the map might have been something of a genius idea in school and it got us out of a lot of scraps but right now it might be my undoing,” Sirius said making his way over to the hidden door in Albus’ office. He pushed it open and stepped just over into the room not shown on the map. Albus simply turned his head with Sirius and gave him a questioning look. “You want to know what the map is, don’t you?” He nodded and Sirius sighed. “Okay so you know how in the study of Ancient Runes in relation to magical item creation one of the given examples of impossible artefacts to create is a map of Hogwarts since the castle is unplotable?”

“I recall the example,” Albus said, already getting a sinking feeling about this.

“Well James, Remus and I took that as a challenge,” Sirius explained with a shrug. Dumbledore’s face paled. “Along with several other examples such as an item that can identify people by their true name, an item that can track people within advance ward schemes, even if they are in another state or form, even under Polyjuice or any other divination protections.” A lump formed in Albus’ throat. “On top of that we kind of gave this item a mind of its own and the ability to share knowledge with the user, including a set of challenges to unlock greater secrets of it and the castle at large. It was supposed to be our legacy here. Something for the next generation of pranksters but… well now it looks quite dangerous in retrospect.”

“Yes,” Albus said with a stern gaze at the rather sheepishly looking man standing in his quarters. “Indeed, it does. Hopefully Miss Potter can retrieve this item and we can make better use of it.” Sirius nodded his head in agreement.

*

Holly bolted down to the grand hall. She pulled back around a corner as she saw students approaching for dinner. Not wanting to get caught up in them she donned her cloak and crept back around. As she watched the few students who remained at Hogwarts for the winter break filter into the hall, she caught sight of a familiar red headed boy. Ron. He was so young. Alive and full of life. Holly clutched her heart. At least with everyone else that died she had had time to talk to them in her cell at Azkaban. Ron had never died in the old timeline. She had missed him.

Ron himself looked rather lonely and worried as he stepped into the hall. His eyes scanned around it, looking for Holly’s familiar form. He sighed as he did not see her and lumbered forward to sit alone. Holly wanted nothing more than to drop her cloak and go sit with him, but she held herself back. Instead she looked through the hall herself for any sign of the twins. By now dinner was well underway, even without the Headmaster. But where were Fred and George?

As if to answer her question she heard laughter coming down the hall. Turning she caught sight of the red headed pair making their way to the hall. Walking down towards them under the cloak, she circled around them and fell in behind the two brothers. Reaching out she poked them both in the back.

“Yes?” they said at the same time, turning to look at one another. “But if that wasn’t you…” They both paused frowning.

“Gred, Forge,” she gasped still feeling out of breath from the run. “I need to talk to you two, immediately.”

“Fred are you hearing what I am hearing?” one twin said to the other.

“Is it the disembodied voice of Holly Potter?” the other replied and his twin nodded. “Then yes, yes I am hearing her.”

“Shall we trust her?”

“Sure why not?”

“Nothing else going on, let’s hear her out.” They both shrugged.

“Follow me,” Holly said as she stepped away only for Fred and George to remain staring at the place she had been. “… or rather follow my voice. This way.” She led them off to an abandoned classroom. Where she slipped off the cloak.

“Is that an…”

“… invisibility cloak?” the twins asked.

“Yes, it was my father’s,” Holly answered as she pulled out her wand and flicked it at the door. “ _Muffliato_.” She was ready for the backlash this time and managed to power through it.

“Wicked.” Both twins exclaimed as they stared at the cloak.

“So what do you need oh…

“… Jolly Holly? Not in any trouble we hope.”

“Or causing any for that matter. Because…”

“… if so you came to the right people for help.”

“Well I am always causing a little trouble,” Holly said still trying to work out how she was going to do this. “In fact, you may say that I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Both their eyes widened. “I thought you might have it on you, when I did not find it in Filch’s office.” Holly was lying by the seat of her pants, but the twins seemed to be eating it up. “I had wondered where that other artefact of my Father’s had gotten to.”

“The map was…”

“… you Fathers?”

“Created it himself along with the help of his best mates,” Holly said with a nod. “Prongs was my Dad and his best friends were Padfoot, Moony and… Wormtail.” She fought hard not to spit at the last name. “If my Father’s journal is anything to go off of they were quite the pranksters back in the day. Leagues ahead of you two of course.” A glint of a challenge appeared in the eyes of the twins. “But I am sure you will get there some day.”

“Holly Potter did you just…”

“… challenge us to a prank war?”

“That’s not what I was thinking of proposing,” she said, shaking her head at the looks of disappointment on their faces. “Instead I was thinking about an alliance. Perhaps a new generation of Marauders? I plan to reach out to Moony over the summer break. Maybe we could help each other in exchange for the map? I can help you become fully fledged Marauders and pull off even better pranks than the first Marauders.”

“That sounds like an interesting relationship…”

“… but what exactly do we get in return?”

“Did you ever wonder how the first four Marauders got their names?” Holly asked and got looks of contemplation from them both. “They are named after their animagus forms that they developed in school. In fact, that is the first step to becoming a fully-fledged Marauder and I can help you do that. Imagine all the pranks you could pull off if you can hide as animals. I have my Father’s notes and enough money for all the ingredients of the ritual.”

“George?”

“Yes Fred?”

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

“Is it the crazy thought to give up the map in exchange for becoming illegal animagi?”

“Yes Fred, yes, it is. But as tempting as the offer is…”

“… the map is a lot to give up. And although technically…”

“… it is yours by birthright. We did a lot of quick thinking to snatch it off of Flitch.”

“Not to mention all the time it took to work out how to activate. The challenges we had to do...”

“… the pranks we had to pull off, the research we had to do…”

“… the detentions we had to serve. Seems a rather hard price to pay for something that could…”

“… go wrong and blow up in our faces.”

“You are right, the map is mine by birthright,” Holly said getting a devious look on her face. “Probably could be argued in court that it is a Potter Family Artefact.” Both twins exchanged nervous glances. To hold a family artefact from the family it belonged to was a serious crime and came with a harsh punishment. “As such returning to me would of course net you a finder’s fee. How about 100 galleons? Since this is only a second-generation Artefact.” Their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Each.”

“Deal,” they both said offering their hands out to her.

“Glad we could come to an arrangement,” Holly said as she looked at their hands. “I don’t have the money on me right now and I really need the map but I can get it to you before term resumes… Easter Holidays at the latest. Would you take a Family Oath as guarantee?”

“No hard feelings Holly. But as much as we trust you…”

“… we’ll take the Oath.”

“No problem,” Holly said taking out her wand once more. “I, Holly James Potter, last of the Potter line, Heir to the Ancient and Noble Family, swear upon my blood and honour to by Easter’s end repay Fred and George Weasley a sum of 100 Galleons in exchange for the return of the Potter Family artefact known as the Marauder’s Map or have my family name be ever disgraced by this broken vow. So mote it be.”

“So mote it be,” both twins said and they shook hands with Holly, sealing the magical binding agreement.

“Alright,” Holly said. “Map please?” They handed over the familiar folded parchment. “Thank-you.”

“We’ll miss the map for sure…”

“… but to earn those many galleons through legitimist means…

“… not even Mum will be able to argue we don’t deserve it.” They finished together with a high-five between them.

“So Jolly Holly…”

“… joining us for dinner tonight?”

“Actually… yeah,” Holly said with a grin. If there was one thing she had missed it was a Hogwarts dinner. “I just need to go get something first and I will be right down. Tell Ron he can stop looking like someone kicked his puppy.” She pulled on the cloak and disappeared out the door, map in hand.

“You know George,” Fred said. “I think we just made the best investment possible in little Jolly Holly.”

“You know Fred,” George said. “I think you are very right.”

*

After dropping the map off with Sirius and Albus, Holly took her nutrient and malnourishment potion before heading down to dinner. Albus and Sirius seemed like they would be taking their meal in the Headmaster’s office. Holly had a feeling that Sirius wanted to yell at Albus some more with Holly out of earshot. He seemed like he needed to output a lot of anger and grief onto the elderly man, especially considering the firewhisky he had requested from the house elves. Eventually Sirius would have to fully accept that Holly was not just a little kid but for the moment she would allow him to recover.

“Holly!” Ron exclaimed when she sat down next to him. “Where have you been? McGonagall said something about counselling with the Headmaster?”

“Something like that,” Holly said with a smile. It was nice to hear Ron’s voice once more. “I imagine you’ll find out any moment.”

He looked at her puzzled till his older brother, Percy, made his way down the table. “Congratulations Holly,” Percy said shaking hands with the Girl-Who-Lived.

“Thanks,” Holly said as she eyed the newspaper folded under his arm.

“At such a young age too. Why you must be the youngest in centuries,” Percy mused with a thoughtful expression. “But I am sure you’ll do great things under his tutelage.”

“Excuse me?” Ron said with a confused look over his face. “But what exactly is going on?”

“Here,” Percy said passing his copy of the Daily Prophet over to Ron.

“Sirius Black has escaped?” Ron said reading the headline. “Who the hell is Sirius Black?”

“The headline under the fold Ronald,” Percy said with a sigh.

Ron unfolded the paper and his eyes widened. “Blimey,” he exclaimed glancing up to Holly. “Is it true? Are you really going to be apprenticing to Dumbledore?”

“Yeah,” Holly said with a nod. She could see that little spark of jealousy starting to rear its ugly head within Ron so she decided to try and deal with that now. “Just a bunch of extra classes, homework and some private lessons.” Ron cringed at the idea of more schoolwork. “I’ll still be in all the regular classes but probably doing some self-study that Albus will assign me as well as the classwork.” She did not miss the way both Percy and Ron gave her surprised looks at the use of the Headmaster’s first name. That was a habit that would be annoying to break. Then again maybe she should just roll with it.

“Better you then me mate,” Ron said. “You know Hermione is going to be both excited and jealous, right?”

“Probably going to make me tell her all about the lessons and teach her what I can too,” Holly said with a chuckle as Ron grinned at her. “I’ll see how much I can get away with under the bonded ritual. And who knows? Maybe I’ll learn something cool and be able to share it. Like a spell that makes homework easier or something.”

“Yeah that could be fun… I suppose,” Ron said with a shrug. “Better you than me with all that extra work mate.”

“Regardless,” Percy said sounding like he was not a fan of using Dumbledore’s advanced magic lessons to learn an easier way to do schoolwork. “Good work Holly. I know you will do all of Gryffindor proud.” He patted her on the back before walking away.

Ron rolled his eyes at Percy before turning back to Holly. “Either way mate, glad you seem happy with it and all,” Ron said. “Hope it’s not too boring.”

“We’ll see,” Holly said and then fell into a conversation with Ron about the next quidditch game against Hufflepuff. As Holly talked she was really glad to have her occlumency skills as recalling things from being 11 was pushing the mental magical art. Luckily there were some big road markers in her life to group events around. The Philosopher’s Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius, the Triwizard Tournament, The Department of Mysteries, Albus’ Death, the Hunt for the Horcruxes turned Hunt for the Hallows and everything else in-between, after and before those events.

When dinner was over, Holly made sure Ron picked up Percy’s newspaper and took it with him. Hopefully that would end up in his dorm room where Scabbers would come across it. As they trudged their way up to the Gryffindor Common Room, Holly felt dead on her feet. Even after her sleep in Albus’ quarters she still felt the weight of the last day upon her shoulders. Holly barely remembered murmuring ‘goodnight’ to Ron before heading up to her dorm room and collapsing upon the familiar bed. She did not even finish her thought of how surreal it was to be back here in her first-year dorm room before everything fell away around her and she was out like a log.

*

Neville Longbottom nervously paced before the fireplace. What was he doing? Sure his grandmother would be gone for a few hours yet with the Wizengamot’s end of year session and the house elf knew not to bother him but could he really do this? Could he sneak out without anyone knowing? Once more he looked back to the letter he had received.

_Dear Neville,_

_Hope you are having a great holiday Neville. I know we barely know each other but I would like to consider you a friend. I suppose you have heard the news about my apprenticeship to Headmaster Dumbledore? Anyway, while learning some things from him I came across an interesting piece of knowledge that I would like to share with you. This is a discussion best had in person, so if you want to talk I will be at the Leaky Cauldron today at 10 am. If not that’s okay. I will see you at Hogwarts._

_From,  
Holly Potter_

He bit his lip as he read the letter for the fifth time today. Should he go? What did Holly want to talk to him about? Why him? The clock on the mantelpiece struck 10 startling Neville. What had his grandmother always said? ‘Be brave like your Father’. Grabbing a pinch of floo powder, he stepped towards the fireplace. “The Leaky Cauldron,” he said being very careful not to stumble over his words as he felt his heart race.

In a flash of green flames he stumbled out of the fireplace. Coughing and spluttering, his foot caught on the lip of the floo and he fell forward. An arm grasped onto him and pulled Neville aside. “I got you Neville,” an older woman said as she helped balance him before lowering him down into a nearby seat in a booth near the back of the pub.

Neville frowned up at the older woman. She had thick deep red hair against flawless fair skin. Her hazel eyes sparkled with mirth as she took a seat opposite Neville. Reaching up she brushed her hair aside and he frowned as something shifted on her forehead. A familiar lightning bolt scar appeared before fading once more. His eyes widened comedically. “Holly?” Neville gasped out.

“Yeah it’s me,” she said with a smile. “I hope you won’t mind keeping this to yourself for a while.” Her eyes flashed green before going back to hazel.

“You’re a metamorphmagus!”

“A little quieter Neville please,” Holly said. She had not wanted to have to cast the Muffliato charm today. Each time she had her magical channels had been torn open and she wanted to at least have some chance of casting other spells if the day required it. “It’s not a huge secret but I would prefer to keep it under my hat for a while yet.”

“Right,” he squeaked looking a little embarrassed by his exclamation. “You know my Gran thought I might be one too for a while. After I fell out the window and bounced… but they checked, that was just accidental magic.”

“Funny story,” Holly said with a laugh. “My first use of this ability was actually ruled as accidental magic only I had no one to test me. My muggle aunt shaved my head when I had headlice once. I was mortified, cried myself to sleep worrying over the next day of school, by the morning it had grown back even longer.” She toyed with her messy red hair that flowed down to the centre of her back. “But I did not know of my ability till I talked with Dumbledore and he checked me over. I am still learning to master it but it’s hard without a teacher that can show me how to morph.”

“That’s so cool that you’re is apprentice,” Neville whispered. “Are you already learning really cool stuff?”

“Yeah actually,” Holly said as she prepared her carefully rehearsed lie. “One of the things we have been studying is the connection between a wizard or witch and their wand.” She produced her wand, showing it to Neville. “Mine, for example, has a phoenix feather at the core and, ironically enough, is made of holly.” She watched as a look of amusement danced over Neville’s face to match Holly’s own. “The flexibility and length is perfect for me, eleven inches long, but not just in the way a broomstick might be fitted to match a person’s height. No this whole combination is tuned personally to my magical core and the potential I have. Not only does it assist me in casting spells but more importantly, it doesn’t fight me.”

“I didn’t know wands were that complicated,” Neville said, furrowing his brow. “Or that the wood they used was so important. Let alone the length and the flexibility.”

“Yeah. Even most of the Professors at Hogwarts know little of this. Few study the art of wandlore let alone wand making. What about your own wand Neville?” Holly asked and she could see already how he clammed up. “You know in my studies I have read accounts of wands that fight their wielders and I have seen you in class.” Neville looked even more nervous as his eyes refused to meet with Holly’s. He mumbled something under his breath. “What was that Neville?”

“I… it’s my father’s wand,” Neville said his eyes darkening. “And I already know I am not as smart or powerful as him. I already know I am not him. My Gran tells me that enough already.”

“Of course, you’re not Neville,” Holly said shaking her head. “Your Father was what? Early 20’s when your parents were injured?” Neville looked surprised and ashamed by her knowledge of what had happened to his parents. “He had over ten years with this wand, earning the loyalty of a wand that was already made specially for him and letting it adapt to his style and his magic. You are not your Father. Nor are you your Mother. Just like I am neither of my parents. We are our own people Neville with our own lives and our own magic. We should have our own wands.”

“But my Gran…” he said his hands shaking. “You don’t understand. She has such high expectations for me.”

“Only because she knows you can do it,” Holly said reaching out to take Neville’s hands. “Look at me Neville.” She waited for his eyes to meet her own. “You can do whatever you set your mind to. You have more courage, brains, talent and determination within you than you know. All you need to do is just stand up for yourself. That wand is holding you back, you know it and I know it. So what are you going to do about it?”

“I can’t just abandon it,” Neville said his face blushing red as he looked down to Holly’s adult hands clasped around his. “My Gran would kill me and besides… it’s my Dad’s wand.”

“I am not saying to abandon it and what your Gran doesn’t know won’t hurt her, or you for that matter,” Holly said patting Neville’s hands before releasing them. “In fact, you should keep your Dad’s wand. A handy spare if ever you need one and you can always pretend that is the one you have been using around your Gran.”

Neville bit his bottom lip. He was starting to feel an indent there from today. Finally, he spoke. “Okay.”

“Good, let’s go to Ollivander’s,” Holly said as she reached into her shoulder bag and produced a strange cloak made of a fabric that seemed to shift around in the air. “Wear this. We don’t want someone who knows your Gran to see you out and about. Make sure it covers your whole body.”

Neville frowned as he took the cloak. As he pulled it around his shoulders he gasped in surprise as he watched his lower body disappear. “This is… wow Holly,” Neville said as he looked right through the rest of his body.

“Pull it over your head and take my hand,” she said stepping out of the booth and helping him adjust to the cloak. “Just follow alongside me and keep the cloak over you.”

Holly led Neville out of the bar and into the back alley. The best part about ageing herself up and swapping her parent’s features around on her face was that no one recognised her as the Girl-Who-Lived. She was just another witch passing through. Tapping the bricks in the right order she opened the passage to Diagon Alley and stepped through. It was not quite soon enough for the start of year rush to hit the alley nor were they stuck in the remnants of the after-yule sales, so the alley was peaceful. This made leading Neville through the street just that little easier.

Holly also saw she was not the only one making her way down to Ollivander’s. A familiar black dog was not far behind her, following casually. Sirius might be overprotective, but Holly felt reassured by his presence. Despite having carefully planned this trip out there was always the chance for things to go wrong and having an adult wizard nearby, even one without a wand, was reassuring. Soon enough they reached the familiar shop and stepped inside as Padfoot took up guard beside the door.

“Ah, returning so soon Miss Potter,” Ollivander said, seemingly seeing right though her disguise. “I trust you have not had trouble with your wand? Hmm? No need for replacement or repair?” She shook her head as the elderly wand maker furrowed his brow. “I could have sworn you would be bringing someone along with you.” His eyes gazed into the blank spot where Neville was standing under the cloak.

“It’s creepy that you can do that,” Holly said reaching out and pulling the cloak off of Neville.

“Indeed,” Mr Ollivander said his gaze locked on Neville. “Mister Longbottom, I have been expecting you for some time. Come, come, let us find where your wand has gotten too. Must be somewhere around here.”

“Yes… Sir,” Neville said nervously stepping forward as Ollivander came to meet him.

“Hmmm,” the wandmaker hummed as he started to measure Neville with the familiar silver tape measure. “Let me see that wand arm.” Neville held it out for him as he went about the process of measuring the wizard up. “Alright let’s start here and work our way down…” He reached into a box and produced a wand. “Laurel, with dragon heartstring, nine inches long, stiff and inflexible.” He handed the wand to Neville. “Well go on then… give it a wave.”

Neville did so and the shop rocketed from a wave of force that almost uprooted some of the floorboards. “I’m so sorry Sir,” Neville squeaked dropping the wand like it was on fire.

“No worries there,” Ollivander said catching the wand before it hit the floor. “We’ll just try another one. Perhaps stray away from the dragon heartstrings, you are far too powerful for those, need something to balance it out.” Neville seemed shocked to hear Ollivander say that but was still too intimidated to say anything about it. “Let’s see here…” He shifted through more boxes. “How about unicorn hair and…”

This went on for some time. Much to Holly’s amusement. It seemed with every wand that passed him by Neville grew more and more anxious while Ollivander grew more and more excited. “Almost as tricky a customer as Miss Potter was,” Ollivander said as he fished around for one wand in particular. “But let us try this. Cherry and unicorn hair, ten and a half inchers long, with a slight curl to it when flexed.” Holly’s attention returned to Neville as she recognised his friend’s wand from the future. “It seems Miss Potter has high hopes for this one… give it a try.”

Neville did and the sparks it produced were brilliant… till the chair caught on fire. “I’m sorry,” Neville cried as Ollivander snapped the wand out of his hand.

“No worries, no worries whatsoever, we were close,” Ollivander said with a skip to his stride as he walked back to the wands but not before flicking his own at the fire and putting it out. “Miss Potter looks rather disappointed but worry not Miss Potter, there is a wand in here for Mister Longbottom, you can bet on that.” Neville gave Holly a weird look but Holly was transfixed on the wand Ollivander had put away. That should have been the one. That should have worked for Neville. Had the timeline changed already? “Let us try this one.” Olivander returned holding a similar but shorter wand. “Sister wand to the one that we just tried. Cut from the same cherry tree but with one of my old experimental cores. Mandragora turcomanica seeds. It’s only ten inches long and the core is questionable, but I believe in your hands it might do well.”

Shakely Neville took the wand and gave it a half-hearted wave. He seemed to be expecting it to explode at any moment. Instead there was a faint high-pitched squeal from the wand before the burned surface of the wooden chair suddenly cleared away. Within moments it looked untouched by flames and even looked to have a fresh coat of varnish upon it. “Did I…”

“Congratulations Mister Longbottom,” Ollivander exclaimed clapping his hands together. “That wand will serve you well. The unique power produced by the cherry will mesh well with the unusual qualities of such a rare species of mandrake seed. I would say a prime wand for doing what some may consider the impossible and the unlikely. Perfect for a man of your potential.”

“Thank-you Mister Ollivander, Sir,” Neville exclaimed looking like he was stuck between trying not to cry and trying not to give Ollivander a hug.

“Great work Nev,” Holly said clapping him on the back. She smiled but her eyes still showed worry. “I have a few things to speak with Mister Ollivander about.” She turned to the wandmaker who had scooped up the pile of discarded wands.

“Of course,” Ollivander said. “Come with me Miss Potter. Mister Longbottom, I will return with her in a moment and we can discuss a price for that wand.” Neville suddenly looked nervous once more as Holly followed Ollivander into the back. “So, trying again are we Holly?”

“Huh?” she said, a sudden lump in her heart.

“Oh I know someone seeking a wand when I see them,” Ollivander said as he started to sort through the wands, laying them out across a velvet topped table. “You have come for a second wand, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Holly said letting out a breath she had been holding in. “I have recently started apprenticing under Dumbledore and he suggested that a second wand may come in handy.”

“I see,” Ollivander said, his gaze seemed to cut right through Holly. “I am sorry to say that your day does not seem to be going as expected. Every wand I craft is meant for one person to buy and one person alone.” He gestured to the wands across the table. “Each of these will be bought by the people they were intended to be bought by. No one else. I can replace wands if they are lost or broken, fix ones that have minor damage and even refurbish those that have worn down. But I only ever create one wand at a time for a person. No exceptions. Though trust me, if I could I would make you a second wand. There are great things ahead of you once more Miss Potter and a second wand could surely help with that. But alas I cannot provide you this.”

“That is… not what I had been expecting,” Holly said with a frown.

“Life rarely gives us what we expect,” Ollivander said as he brought out a cloth and started to polish the wands Neville had tried. “I believe you have seen that yourself today?”

“Yes,” Holly said getting that same feeling again that the wand maker knew far more than what he was saying. “But perhaps you can help me with another problem. I have a… friend, another friend besides Neville, in need of a wand. They lost theirs.”

“Ah yes, I was wondering if Mister Black would come to see me today,” Ollivander said. Holly opened her mouth to question him on this and many of the other things he had said only for him to hold up a hand. “Do not threat, the secrets of an innocent man are safe with me Miss Potter. And do you really think I would give you a proper answer to your questions on how I know this?”

Holly locked eyes with the wand maker and shook her head. “I suppose I do not have any choice but to trust you,” Holly said, her mind wondered back to the old timeline and the great help Ollivander had been in their search for the Elder Wand. Yes, she would trust this man. He was a… unique wizard and one she respected because of his mere presence alone.

“As for your friend I must once more apologise,” Ollivander said returning his gaze to the wands. “Mister Black’s wand is lost to him… but not indefinitely. I believe it is Mister Lupin that holds it currently. Though with the hatred he has for the wielder of the wand, I am surprised he has not snapped it himself.” Holly bit her inner cheek. So far her trip to Ollivander’s was one out of three successes. Neville got his new wand but there would be no second wand for Holly or even a first wand for Sirius. “I still may have an answer to your problems though.” She perked up at this. “Come see me in the summer and I may have a way for both yourself and Mister Black to acquire a wand.”

“Thank-you Mister Ollivander,” Holly said. She could last the rest of the school year with only her holly and phoenix wand. The main reason she wanted a second wand anyway was to overcome the Priori Incantatem effect if she ever had to face Voldemort’s wand again. If they stuck to the timeline then she should not need it till fourth year, but Holly had a sinking feeling that changes were already starting to occur. Especially if Neville’s change of wands was anything to go on. Soon the timeline may well be unrecognisable. Then her future knowledge would be useless.

“Let us go see how Mister Longbottom is getting on, shall we?” Ollivander offered and they stepped back into the main store. There they came across the blonde-haired boy pointing his wand at a floating chair. It spun gracefully through the air as he moved it from one corner to the other. It seemed like he had perfect control over the levitation charm. “Well done once again Mister Longbottom.”

“That was perfect Neville,” Holly said. She was genuinely surprised by the amount of control he had exerted over the spell. There had been no jumpy movements, shaking of the chair or even lurches as it had sailed through the air. “But I think we better go soon. It’s been nearly an hour.”

“Right,” Neville said going from joy filled to alert in a moment as he remembered heisGran would be home in a couple hours now. He turned to Ollivander. “I’m sorry but I did not bring any money with me. Holly’s letter did not mention anything about that.”

“I got this one Nev,” Holly said as she pulled out her pouch. “Consider it a late Christmas present or early birthday gift, whatever you prefer.”

“That will be ten galleons for a wand of that quality,” Ollivander said and Holly happily paid the wand maker.

“I am going to get you the best birthday gift ever Holly,” Neville said, his smile beaming. “This is the most amazing thing ever.”

“I’ll be counting on it Neville,” Holly said with a wink. “I have a few more things to shop for before heading to Gringotts. You want to join me for those and maybe some ice-cream before you have to head home?”

“I don’t know about that. If my Gran finds out…” Neville started to say only to grip his wand tighter. “No actually I think I would like that very much. Yes, I would like to come.”

Holly smiled at Neville’s newfound confidence though it was all too familiar to her. “Excellent, I have to go to Flourish and Boltts, then Magical Menagerie and Quality Quidditch Supplies but then I figure we can swing by Fortescue’s.”

Neville nodded pulling on the cloak. “Lead the way,” he said and offered out a hand to Holly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is chapter three down. A lot of talking and discussions but Holly is starting to get things going and I hope the next chapter will be a little more interesting as it expands on the world I am crafting while setting up Holly with more resources and maybe an unexpected ally this early in the timeline. I will see how it goes as I write. I hope to get to some good action scenes later down the line but with Holly’s ability to cast higher powered spells limited I am a little restricted in what I can do. Till next time, please feel free to leave feedback or comments. They keep me working hard.


	4. Never Have I Ever...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly and Sirius deal with some goblins. Holly gathers some useful tools and becomes an Heiress twice over, after some mild resistance. She then runs into some unexpected people in Diagon Alley that send her for a spin and cause mistakes to be made that start to have some consequences on the new timeline. Meanwhile Albus and Sirius review memories from Holly’s old timeline and come to a new understanding around Holly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for being late with this update. I had a busy week and it took me a while to get this chapter the way I wanted it… not sure I even got there in the end but it’s close enough. Sometimes you just need to press forward. Anyway, please enjoy this monster of a chapter.

**Chapter 04:** Never Have I Ever…

It was a great couple of hours spent in the alley with Neville. It was so quite that they were often able to talk without fear of Neville being discovered. Holly managed to do all her shopping with time to spare. They took a good half-an-hour break, sitting out of the way, eating their ice-creams. Neville was curious why Holly had brought him a cone and herself two separate cones, but she had simply smiled and said the extra was for a friend. Sure enough, a big black dog joined them and licked the chocolate chipped ice-cream Holly offered him as Holly ate her own cone of chocolate and strawberry swirl. Neville was confused but doubted he would get an answer to his questions, so he simply went back to enjoying his vanilla ice-cream with sprinkles.

Before they knew it Neville had to leave, but he promised Holly to see her back at Hogwarts. Holly herself had one more important piece of business to take care of. She walked with Padfoot down to Gringotts bank. There were some odd looks thrown their way as she led the dog up the stairs and into the bank but once they got to the counter Holly simply produced a letter Sirius had written and signed and they were allowed into a private room where Padfoot could transform away from prying eyes.

“Got to love goblins and their disregard for wizarding laws,” Sirius said with a smirk as he plopped down into a chair.

“More like their love for gold and hatred for our society,” Holly said with a shrug as she stayed standing by the door. “But yeah, they’re alright. Long as you don’t piss them off or your immortal Dark Lord archnemeses doesn’t already have them under his thumb.”

“Yeah…” Sirius said whistling lowly. “You know it’s bad when the goblins start taking sides in a wizard’s war. So, you know what you have to do?”

“Present the signed request to access the main Potter vault and see what we have down there,” Holly said as she produced the letter Albus had drafted and they had both signed. “Grab anything I can carry that looks useful and make a note of anything else down there we could use. What about you?”

“Attending whatever stupid meeting this is with whoever the fuck I am meant to meat about my stupid recently dead uncle and see what I can weasel out of the dead git’s will,” Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. “Maybe he’ll have left me some horribly cursed book or a toothpick… something dark or insulting probably.”

“Sirius do try to take this seri…” Holly stopped herself as she saw the mirth rising in her godfather’s eyes. “… treat this with some tact and respect.”

“You’re no fun,” Sirius said pouting.

“I am not no fun,” Holly said with a hard look in her eyes that was broken by her smirk. “I’m Holly.”

He laughed as a goblin entered from the other side of the room with his own hard look upon his face. “If you can compose yourself for a moment Mister Black,” the goblin said. “We have business to conduct. I am Blüdiron, account manager for the Black Family since before your grandfather was in diapers. So do try to conduct yourself in a way befitting of your wizarding Noble and Most Ancient House… however young you want to consider most ancient.” He scoffed as he took a seat across a desk from Sirius.

“Catch up with you later Holly,” Sirius said as he turned his attention to the Goblin.

“Don’t go anywhere without me Padfoot,” Holly said as she placed her bags down around Sirius. “I am leaving all my shopping with you.”

“Got it,” Sirius said with a smirk. “Get out of here Thunderfart.”

“That one is vetoed too,” Holly said with a tired sigh.

“Voltfeather?”

“No.”

“Sonicscreacher?”

“I’m leaving,” Holly said heading for the door.

“What about Stormbri…”

Holly shut the door, drowning out Sirius’ voice before making her way back to the counter. “Excuse me,” she said to the goblin behind the counter. “I have a letter of intention for myself and a request to enter my family vault?”

“Name?” the goblin said snidely.

“Holly James Potter,” she said knowing that the privacy enchantments on the counter would keep client’s private details secret. The goblin gave her what she could only surmise to be a questioning look on his squat face. She shifted her form, eyes turning green, hair changing to a deep black and scar appearing above her forehead. “I believe discretion would be useful for me right now… and profitable for you.”

Her form shifted back to her disguise as the goblin nodded and started to page through a book. She knew her shifting was slow compared to people like Tonks or even those using self-transfiguration but it was the best she could do with the limited lessons Tonks had given. Not to mention the lack of use this body had with shifting forms. Like most magics, metamorphmagus abilities were a muscle, one big muscle in fact. They needed to be worked hard to grow stronger. But Holly was unsure how to do that. Normal shifting did not make her muscles feel overly tired nor did it seem to improve her ability. She guessed that it was one more thing to add to her research.

“Potter Family account manager is…” the goblin said as he read the list. “Ridgeback.” He tapped the name in the book and there was a faint blue glow. “He is free now. Follow me.” The goblin leaped down from behind the desk and hurried further into the bank. Holly had to almost jog to keep up with the little man. If there was one things goblins liked nearly as much as gold and blood wars it was to be efficient. “Here you are.” He pointed to a door. “Go in and present your documents.”

“Thank-you,” Holly said quickly and got a curt nod in return before the goblin hurried back to his post. She pushed the door open, stepping into an office similar to the one she had left Sirius in. Behind the desk, a smartly dressed goblin sat with a mountain of paperwork before him that almost hid the small man from view. “Ridgeback?” He raised a hand. “I am Holly Potter.”

“Are you now?” Ridgeback questioned but Holly was already shifting her form into that of the eleven-year-old Girl-Who-Lived. The robes Dumbledore had charmed for her adjusted in size to match her new form. “Hmmm… maybe you are. We’ll see about that in a moment but first let me read these documents you carry.” She placed the letter and request form upon his desk before taking a seat across from him. “A request for vault access and lets see here…”

She watched him tear open the letter of intention. It was a simple legal document that informed them of Dumbledore’s intention to take Holly as an apprentice. Such an act would allow her to be considered an adult with his permission. This would grant her full powers as Heiress Potter with Dumbledore holding a representative role as Head of the Potter Family due to his position as her mentor. That would allow a variety of things to happen once the apprenticeship begun but right now it along the request of access form would let her take a few things from the family vault and claim her Heirship.

“… all appears in order,” Ridgeback said with a nod. “I will retrieve the Potter Family Heiress ring and make arrangements to visit the vault. Anything else you require?”

“I’ll need a full financial and asset report,” Holly said remembering what Albus had asked her to get. “I know that will take some time, but we want a full evaluation of everything the Potter Family has by the end of May at the latest.”

“Excellent,” Ridgeback said as he got up. “We will have that to you soon along with our bill for the evaluation.”

“Good,” Holly said as the Goblin retreated out of the room. Nervously she chewed on her bottom lip. Holly had never had the chance to claim any of this back in the old timeline. Without her parents or a representative for the Potter Family she could not have touched anything beyond her trust fund till she was of age. And by the time she turned seventeen there had been no time for these matters. Horcruxes and Hollows, not to mention the war and Voldemort had been so much more important. She wondered what her life would have been like with the backing of her Noble Family. She supposed she was about to find out as Ridgeback returned.

“Here you go Miss Potter,” Ridgeback said placing a stone box upon the table. He tapped it once, activating a goblin security rune that glowed white in colour before placing a small penknife upon the table next to it. “A single drop of your blood upon the rune should open the box... if you are the correct Heiress, if not… well we have a cleaning crew for a reason.”

Holly nodded taking the knife and pricking her thumb before pressing it onto the rune. With a click the box opened, her wound healed, and the blood faded away. Opening the box, she retrieved a small ring with her family crest upon it. The ring itself was made of a dark black metal that looked like muggle tungsten but was instead a goblin alloy covered in intricate carved runes, some of them no wider than a few millimetres. The gem within the ring was a deep red with a bronze dragon upon it above an open book with a wand and war staff crossed behind them. This was the Potter Family Crest, not the full coat of arms that the Head of House ring would have but just the crest to symbolise Holly’s place as Heiress.

She slipped the ring onto her finger and felt it prick her skin. There was a glow of confirmation and Ridgeback nodded. “Welcome back to Gringotts Heiress Potter,” he said with a yellow toothed grin. “It has been a long time since the Potter Family has been active in the business world and I would hope this is the beginning of a new chapter for both our clans financial futures. Come, let me show you to the Potter Family vaults.”

“Don’t get too excited Ridgeback,” Holly said shaking her head as she followed the goblin. “This is just the very start of a long endeavour. We need to know what we are looking at first and figure out how best to approach that. For that we will need the full evaluation of our available funds and assets.” Ridgeback nodded sharply at this as he opened a private passage from his office to the tracks that ran the carts to the vaults. “I am no business mogul or financial genius. In fact, I would go so far to say that my experience in business is less than none. But I am a good learner and listener, I have a good Mentor and a Godfather who can teach me of the Old Noble House business ways. However, I believe you will still be a better account manager and financial expert than I could ever hope to be. So, I will need your help. Any advice you have to offer is welcome.”

“I am bound by blood oath to serve the Potter Family in the financial world to the best of my abilities,” Ridgeback said. He reached out a touched a rune on the wall, calling a cart to them. “Your gains are mine too and my reputation a reflection of your own power, wealth and honour. I could not mislead or refuse to help you even if I wanted to… but it helps to know one’s future Head of House has a good head on her shoulders and is willing to listen to those more knowledgeable in these maters than herself. It is refreshing compared to what most of my colleagues have to deal with.”

“I can imagine,” Holly said thinking about how someone like Lucius Malfoy would react to a goblin trying to advise him on what to do with his money. “Why don’t you start by telling me about the rings.” She gestured to the one on her finger. “I know its magical. I can feel the magic flowing through me from it.”

“That is a signet ring and it has several properties,” Ridgeback explained as a cart came down the tracks and stopped before them. “Most of them are tied into communicating your status magically for bureaucratic purposes and choosing your next heir, which is a prospect you may have to discuss with your mentor and your godfather. Beyond that they can be hidden from view and in the case of multiple family lines converging or alliance rings they can merge with other rings to form one. But that is simply out of convenience.”

“Huh,” Holly said as she and Ridgeback boarded the cart. “I thought they would do more than just that.”

“They do what is needed out of them,” Ridgeback said with a grunt as he started the cart forward. “Prove your status and signal the continuation of your family line. They are merely a proxy after all for your family heirloom.”

“Family heirloom?” Holly asked thinking of her invisibility cloak.

“Your Wizarding Ancient and Noble Family’s were formed from the greatest mages of the ancient era,” Ridgeback said his voice rising as the cart picked up speed. “When these mages came together to form the Wizard’s Council, they were required to show their expertise with magic to get a seat on the council and later the Wizengamot. At the time the enchantment of magical items was considered the pinnacle of one’s magical ability. Each mage to earn their seat produced such an item worthy of the council’s approval and were granted their family titles. Many of my own ancestors were commissioned to physically craft these items but it was the wizard or witch that enchanted them.”

“I thought goblins considered ownership of their artefacts by wizards to be only renting them,” Holly yelled her voice almost being lost as they thundered down the tracks, diving into the depths of Gringotts.

“That is a belief born of the younger generation,” Ridgeback said his deep voice carrying better than Holly’s as they cart picked up speed and suddenly straightened out. “Our people remain angered that we do not share the same rights as your own people in your world. But us of the older generation understand that our worlds are still separate. You have your world with your laws and rights, and we have our own. Why should we demand rights in your world and not offer them for you in our world? I can tell you right now that if we offered the same rights to wizards in our world that we offer to our own kin we would not make half as much profit. But the younger generation do not even consider that. They just want to have rights like yours in your world and not asking themselves what will happen when you demand rights in our world. This has worked out best for both sides since the original wizard council.”

“Give or take a few rebellions here or there,” Holly called out and got a booming chuckle from the goblin beside her. Up ahead Holly spotted the familiar falling waters of the Thief’s Downfall defence mechanism. “Uh… is that going to react to me?”

“Unfortunately not,” Ridgeback grumbled with a frown. “You metamorphmagi are undetectable. Rest assured that more than one of your kind has tried to rob us.” His sharp teeth formed a menacing grin. “Very few made it out with their lives and none got their hands on anything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Holly said before gasping as they passed under the downpour of magical water. The cart veered suddenly onto a secondary track before plummeting down. “Where are we going?”

“Secondary line to the Ancient and Noble Family vaults on level seven,” Ridgeback said as the cart shuddered under them. “Main line was damaged earlier this year, but worry not, it is under repair and the secondary line will get us there and back.”

That was right, Holly thought, Voldemort had broken in to try and get the Philosopher’s Stone. He must have been pissed when he found Flamel’s vault empty. She wondered if he damaged the line getting in, coming out or simply while enraged over having missed the stone by mere hours? Thinking of that, just what were she and Albus going to do about the stone and Voldemort this year? She would need to address that with him soon. Luckily, Holly had plenty of time before Voldemort would be going after the stone. She would work that out later.

“And here we are Miss Potter,” Ridgeback said pulling the cart to a screeching halt. “The Potter Family vault.” He leapt out of the cart and Holly followed along after the surprisingly spry elderly goblin. She looked up at the large vault door and frowned upon seeing no locking mechanism. Ridgeback must have seen her confused look, for he explained. “Simply place your ring against the vault door as I place my hand.”

Holly nodded and reached out with her hand in time with the goblin. Together they pressed against the door and there was a loud cranking sound before the door just melted away. If Holly thought her trust vault had a small fortune in it, that was nothing compared to this. Bars of gold lined the walls, if it had of been smelted into coins than it might be overflowing from here but stacked as they were now it formed rows that could easily be walked past. Stepping in Holly marvelled at the amount of money she had. She would be interested to see the evaluation, but she figured that this vault easily had enough gold to buy a small island without leaving much of a dent.

“I must remain out here right now but please venture deeper into it,” Ridgeback said. “Any possessions stored here will be towards the back half, including a podium upon which is the last inventory taken. If there is anything you cannot take with you that you want sent to you or retrieved now just circle it on the inventory. I can also have a copy of the inventory made to send home with you and an updated one will be available after the evaluation.”

“Thank-you Ridgeback,” Holly said as she wondered forward in a daze. The gold was nice and all but the idea of the possessions her parents might have left behind drove her to almost run past it. About a dozen or so rows of golden bars back she came across the podium before a sea of shelves that contained numbered chests of various sizes. Pulling open a book on the podium she saw pages and pages of items listed here. This would take a while to look through.

Thankfully the book was divided into categories and sub-categories. Scanning through them Holly soon grabbed the quill beside the book and started circling. There were several interesting magical artefacts that would come in handy later on but it was mostly the personal possessions she wanted. The ones that caught her eyes were her father’s seeker goggles, a pair of her mother’s earrings that were enchanted and… Holly’s heart skipped a beat as she reread the last item. ‘Magical Portrait of Lilly and James Potter (Not Activated)’. She circled that one so hard the quill almost tore through the page.

She would have to make sure that one was retrieved and activated. But she would wait till she could do it with Sirius. He would be better to explain to her parents what had happened. Holly wondered how much they would remember of their lives. At the very least they would have her parent’s mannerisms and it was not like her parents had ever really gotten to know her in life so she supposed this was as close as she would get to them without hunting down the Resurrection Stone again.

Besides the items circled there were a couple things Holly needed to see herself. She made a note of the chest numbers they were in and walked down the aisles. Everything was ordered perfectly so finding her desired chests were easy. It helped they were near the beginning and across from one another. Tapping a chest with her ring it opened to reveal dozens of dozens of sealed wooden boxes that were about fifteen centimetres long. Looking through them she came across two labelled ‘Lilly Potter’ and ‘James Potter’. Pulling them out she took the lids off the boxes and revealed a wand in each. This would do perfectly. She put both boxes within a small bag she had bought with her.

Closing the chest, it locked shut when Holly released the lid. Stepping over to the next shelf she pulled open a chest labelled ‘0001’ and gasped at what was inside. A round silver shield lay upon a cushion. It had seven large star shaped black diamonds embedded into the shield around a large red ruby that had the Potter Family Coat of Arms upon it. The design was that of the crest upon a kite shield with a lion to one side and an eagle to the other, there was a sword hilt sticking out the top of the shield and the family motto across the bottom. The language of the motto seemed to magically change to English as Holly looked at it. ‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death’ was what it read. This was the family heirloom.

Picking up the round, buckler shield, Holly was surprised how light it was. It seemed to vibrate as she moved it through the air, humming softly before her ring brushed against it. In a flash of light the shield shrunk down into a bracelet that clasped around Holly’s left wrist. Like the ring she felt the magic flowing through her. Instinctually Holly flexed her hand and willed the shield forward. It folded out into its full size upon her wrist. On the inner side of the shield Holly could see the complex series of magical runes engraved into this item. This was certainly no mere shape changing shield. There were many other complex magical properties to discover. But for now, she would leave it be.

Willing it back into the bracelet form she released her grasp and the shield returned to being a piece of jewellery. Holly closed the chest and retreated to the vault entrance. There she spied Ridgeback seated on a fold out chair reading the financial pages of the Daily Prophet. “Done already?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you would have wanted to spend a lot more time in there.”

“I did but not today,” Holly said. She could have spent hours combing through the vault and that was not even touching the stuff there left by people before her parents. “I selected some things to be brought out. I will need them delivered to Hogwarts. I trust I can pay to ensure this is done with discretion?” Ridgeback nodded in agreement. “And I got some things myself for today. But I will require some spending money as well.”

“Simply ask for it within the vault,” Ridgeback said with a shrug. “Specify how much you want and if you want it split up. There should be plenty of expanded pouches in your vault you can request as well.”

“Alright,” Holly said still standing in the doorway. “Um… five hundred Galleons please… in an expanded money pouch.” There was a fury of movement from deeper within the vault before a pouch came flying into Holly’s grasp. “I love magic.” She grinned.

“It would seem so,” Ridgeback said standing up and vanishing his seat with a snap of his fingers. He folded up his newspaper as his eyes locked onto the bracelet upon Holly’s wrist. A surprised look came across his face. “Picked up your heirloom?” Holly glanced at the bracelet before looking at Ridgeback with a raised eyebrow. “Walking around with family heirlooms fell out of fashion centuries ago among your people.”

“If they are all this powerful people are stupid to keep them locked away,” Holly said. “Even I can feel the magic flowing through this item. It is a weapon; a tool, and tools are useless if left unused.” Ridgeback did not question why an eleven-year-old girl would feel the need to have a magical shield at her side, but he did give her a pointy tooth filled grin. “Besides from what I heard the Heir Rings have also fallen out of fashion being worn before your seventeenth birthday so if I am going to bring back that, why not go the full mile?”

“I have the strong feeling that you are going to shake things up in the wizarding world Miss Potter,” Ridgeback said. “And I like the sound of that.” His smirk widened and suddenly his face looked to be mostly teeth. Holly could not help grinning back as she stepped out from the vault. He was right about one thing. She was going to certainly shake things up.

*

After one thrilling cart ride back up and some paperwork with Ridgeback that was not nearly as fun, Holly found herself back in disguise and heading over to see how Sirius had gotten on. She walked in on the older man laughing his arse off. “Holly,” he called raising a glass of goblin ale. “Just in time. I was right about to toast my crazy dead uncle. Come have a drink.”

Across from Sirius, the goblin known as Blüdiron also had a glass and a gleeful look upon his scarred face. “What’s the celebration?” Holly said as she closed the door behind her and came to sit next to Sirius. Blüdiron poured her a drink and slid it across the desk to her.

“We are celebrating the new appointment of Lord Black,” Blüdiron stated. “Per his request of course.” He seemed to be quite happy to have been asked to bring out the ale.

“What?” Holly said glancing over at Sirius an seeing the familiar Black Family Coat of Arms upon an onyx encrusted ring on his finger. “But how? I thought you said your uncle hated you. You got kicked out of the family.”

“I did but Uncle Cygnus must have lost his marbles because he named me Heir anyway and left me everything,” Sirius cheered with a grin. “Crazy bastard thought I had turned dark and was the Dark Lord’s star Death Eater like the rest of the world. Apparently just the thought of that was enough to get me back in his good books.”

“For legal reasons Lord Cygnus Black was of sound mind and memory upon the changes to his will,” Blüdiron was quick to add.

“But that’s not even the best part Holly,” Sirius said barely able to contain his joy. “My dear Cousin, Uncle Cygnus’ own daughter, bitch faced Narcissa tried to contend the will and got both herself and her inbred spawn cut off the will completely. The little blonde git actually thought he was in line for the Black Family title. I would kill to be a fly on the wall when Mummy has to tell him that not only did he get overlooked by his Grandfather in favour of me but that the gold they would have received was taken back due to her own foolish actions.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Holly said grasping her glass. She could picture the horror upon Draco’s face as he heard of this, followed quickly by rage and then pathetic crying. “If we ever get to see his reaction to that, I bet it would make a great memory for the patronus charm.”

“But it gets better,” Sirius said and waited till his goddaughter was drinking the goblin ale. “Because I just made you the Black Family Heiress. Go rub that in Draco’s face!”

The goblin ale burned even worse coming up as Holly’s spit take turned to a snort. “Why would you do that to me Sirius?” Holly gasped out as she coughed and spluttered. Her eyes looked upon the papers on the desk that was now soaked with ale. “Sorry Blüdiron.” The goblin in question was laughing almost as hard as her godfather but managed to dismiss her apology with a wave of his hand. “

“Because that was my reaction to finding this out,” Sirius said his laughter subsiding. “Share my pain oh Girl-Who-Lived. Also, you have to admit it was pretty funny seeing you snort it out.”

“Not that,” Holly said shaking her head. “I get that that was a funny prank. Why in the blazes did you make me Heiress Black? I don’t know if you noticed but I kind of have enough on my plate as it is. Not to mention that we are trying to keep our relationship under the radar. The last thing we need is people wondering how I became Heiress Black when the current Lord Black is an escaped criminal that supposedly betrayed my parents to the Dark Lord and is out for my head.”

“Pffh, that’s not a problem,” Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. “You can hide your Black Family Heirship easily. No one outside this office will know anyway and Gringotts has magical binding confidentiality in these matters.”

“Lord Black speaks true,” Blüdiron said as he pulled out a similar stone box to the one Holly had received the Heiress Potter ring in. “Lord Black if you could please present your Heiress with her ring?” He activated the goblin rune.

“Can do,” Sirius said before he cut open his thumb with a penknife and pressed it into the rune. The box opened with a click. “It’s still your choice if you want it or not Holly but just think of Draco’s face when you do reveal yourself as the Black Heiress instead of him.” He held out the opened box to Holly.

She saw a grey metal ring within the box bearing a large black pearl with a silver Black Family crest upon it. “I still don’t know if I am the best choice for this,” Holly said taking the ring in her hand but not putting it on yet. “There had to be other people that were better picks. What about Tonks or her mother? Hell, what about if you have your own kids one day. Wouldn’t it be better for one of them to be your Heir?”

“I considered dumping this on Tonks or Andy, baring the issues with bringing them back into the family which are complicated on their own, it would not bode well with keeping my cover. We can hide your appointment from the rest of the world but they would know if I somehow made them the Black Family Heiress. Besides you’re the next logical choice. You have Black Family blood on your Grandmother’s side and you’re neither exiled from the family nor a complete utter pureblood obsessed git,” Sirius explained. His jovial smile faded away. “Also, I kind of… well…” He looked down at his body before looking back up at Holly. “I’m infertile.”

“Oh… I… I’m so sorry Sirius,” Holly said blinking in surprise. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright. I don’t talk about it much,” Sirius said with a shrug. “When I was learning my animagus form I had an accident and well… things down there don’t quite work anymore.” He gestured vaguely down to his lower torso. “I mean I can still do the deed so to say, no problems in that department, at least I could before Azkaban so hopefully now I can still…”

“Too much information Padfoot,” Holly said elbowing him. “Besides you had me at pissing off Malfoy. Let’s do this.” Sirius grinned at her as she slid the ring onto the same finger that the Potter Family Heiress ring was on. The moment they came into contact with one another there was a flash of light and the Black Family Heiress ring was absorbed by the other. A small silver crest of the Black Family appeared upon the band of the Potter Family Heiress ring. Holly furrowed her brow and tried to will the crest away, it vanished but she could feel the Black Family magic remaining.

“Welcome to the Black Family,” Blüdiron said looking almost as pleased as Sirius and Holly. He raised a glass. “To a profitable venture between the Potter and Black Family.” Sirius was quick to fill his own and Holly’s glasses so they could all drink together.

“We all sorted now?” Holly asked as she let the goblin ale burn her insides.

“Yeah,” Sirius said finishing off his own drink. “I’ve got some more paperwork to sort out but after that I am headed back to see how Dumbledore is getting on. I wonder if he’s finished reviewing those pensive memories.”

Holly nodded. She had given Albus hours upon hours of her memories from the old timeline per his request. He had asked for these so he could review the timeline and make a list of suggestions for small changes they could attempt. Holly had agreed, on the condition that she have final say over what they changed. She had not said that the idea of shifting too far away from the timeline or messing up future events terrified her, but Holly had a feeling Albus knew this. He seemed to be able to read her better than most, even without his ability to read her mind. Maybe it was all the years he had spent teaching children that allowed him to get inside their heads without even the use of magic as an aid.

“Would you mind taking back all my stuff when you leave?” Holly asked gesturing to the packages and bags she had from her shopping trip. “I think I want to grab lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before I head back.”

“Yeah about that,” Sirius said giving Holly a worried look. “While you were gone… I swear one of those packages hissed at me…” He glanced at a large box in the corner. “And are those air holes it has?”

“Oh, you might like this,” Holly said with a smirk as she walked over to the package in question and started to undo the box. She opened the box and an orange blur leapt from it. It hissed at Holly before scampering over to the desk, leaping up onto the paperwork, knocking off one of the glasses to the floor and then jumping into Sirius’ lap. “Sirius Black, say hello to Crookshanks, Hermione’s future familiar and late Christmas present from me, a half-Kneazle and the best rat hunter I have ever met. I think you two will get along famously.”

Sirius looked wide eyed and caught off guard as Crookshanks dug his claws into Sirius’ legs. He winced before the cat seemed to settle down and curl up in his lap. “Good Kitty,” Sirius said as he reached down the petted the cat’s fluffy head. Crookshanks purred loudly. “Okay I think I have this Holly. Go enjoy lunch.”

“One last thing before I leave,” Holly said reaching into her bag and pulling out a long box. “I know we could not get you a wand at Ollivander’s, nor a second one for myself, so I thought you might like this.” She placed her father’s wand box into Sirius’ hands.

“Holly…” Sirius said having a feeling he knew what was in the box even before he pulled it open to see the familiar mahogany wand. “I couldn’t…”

“Don’t be silly Sirius,” Holly said. She had had a feeling that he would fight her on this. “You need a wand and Dad’s not using this anymore. You were his best mate. He would want you to have this.” Sirius still looked unconvinced. “If anything happened to us while I was with you and you were unable to defend me… you know he would want you to have this for that reason alone. It will fight you, but it might remember that you were his friend and be easier to master then most wands.”

“Alright,” Sirius said as he nodded at Blüdiron for another refill. “Thank-you Holly. Stay safe. If anything happens while you are out there…”

“Don’t worries Sirius,” Holly said as she reached for a pendent that she had around her neck. She lifted up a small glass phoenix on a silver chain. “I still have the emergency portkey Albus gave me. If anything happens to me I just say a couple words and I will be back safe in his office. And I even got a hold of Mum’s wand as a backup for now. I’m good so you can stop your fussing.”

“Get going Holly,” Sirius said with a grin as he sipped another glass of ale. Holly had a feeling he was going to finish that bottle with Blüdiron before heading back.

“See you later Padfoot,” Holly said. She grinned as she stood up, put back waved good-bye to both Sirius and Blüdiron before making her way out of the bank. Diagon Alley seemed to have woken up for lunch. The streets were full, as kids on winter break ran down them, followed by friends, siblings or doting parents. It reminded Holly of the first time she had ventured into the alley alongside Hagrid. Sure enough, just like last time, a bunch of kids were gathered outside Quality Quidditch Supplies, looking at the Nimbus 2000 on display.

A single voice made Holly freeze and do a double take. “See Dad, it’s the same broom that Holly Potter has, she’s the Gryffindor Seeker,” a young boy called out, his face pressed against the glass. “With a broom like that I bet I could make Captain.”

“I bet you could Son even without the broom,” Amos Diggory said wading through the other kids to approach Cedric. “With any luck you’ll be Captain by next year Son.” He put an arm around Cedric’s shoulder. “You’ll do both me and your mother proud.” The kids sniggered as Cedric’s Dad ruffled his hair.

“Dad,” Cedric scolded, as his face lit up red from embarrassment, but he did not pull away from the half-embrace.

“Don’t worry about who will or won’t be the next Quidditch Captain Son,” Amos said steering Cedric away from the window display. “Or what broom you have or don’t have. Just concentrate on school and play your heart out on the pitch. I know you will do well Son. No matter what you have or don’t have. You are an amazing, talented, smart boy with a bright future. You can do whatever you put your mind to.”

“You really think so Dad?”

“I know so Son,” Amos said. “Now let’s get back home to your mother. I bet she has lunch ready and a hundred more questions about that girl you mentioned. What was her name? Cho?” Cedric grinned up at his father, even embarrassed by the man he could not hide how much he loved his dad. They walked away and left Holly feeling like every fibre of her being was screaming out at her to do something.

But she was paralysed as her mind whirled. This was the youngest she ever remembered Cedric being. So innocent and happy. He had no idea about the storm that was coming his way. And the smile upon his father’s face. Amos looked like he had it all, with his son by his side. Holly felt her hands shake. Her carefully crafted form started to shift unconsciously. She felt her emotions overtake her. Her red hair started to darken, eyes started to turn green and her form shrunk a few inches. She could feel herself longing for the familiar form of Holly Potter and at the same time her heart was beating like a bongo drum. Her breath came shallow and fast. She felt faint, her balance was gone and she went to fall backwards.

“Woah easy there,” a voice said and grabbed Holly before she hit the ground. “You alright?”

“I…” Holly gasped feeling a weight in her lungs as she glanced up at the woman holding her. It was the bubble-gum pink hair that she noticed first. “… Tonks?”

“Wotcher mate that’s me,” Tonks said with a grin that rivalled the Cheshire Cat. “Do we know each other? Did we go to Hogwarts together or something? Sorry if I don’t remember you.”

Holly frowned, oh right, her disguise. She was somewhere between her forms so she must have looked a few years off of Tonks’ own age. Before she could stop herself she felt her body shift back into the full disguise, hair becoming the lighter auburn colour and growing back to her original disguised height while her eyes returned to normal. Only when Tonks’ eyes widened beyond what was physically possible of any who was not metamorphmagus did Holly realise she had just outed her ability to the other woman.

“You’re like me!” Tonks exclaimed her hair shifting to an electric blue colour as she became excited. “I’ve never met another metamorphmagus.” She seemed giddy with excitement. She looked like she was about to start dancing through the streets any moment now with or without Holly still in her arms. “Who are you?”

“I’m Holly…” Holly said, catching herself as she realised telling Tonks who she was might not be the smartest idea. “… Evans. Holly Evans.” She could see a look of suspicion come over Tonks’ face. “Sorry I’m still feeling a bit faint.” Holly feigned leaning into Tonks in need of support to stand. “You mind if we find some place to sit down?”

“Oh,” Tonks said the suspicion leaving her eyes in favour of concern. “Sure, lets go find you someplace to rest. I was headed to the Leaky Cauldron anyway for a drink. Care to join me?”

“Sure,” Holly said, not sure how she could refuse the offer even if she wanted to. “I was headed there for lunch anyway.”

“That sounds good around now,” Tonks said her stomach grumbling, as it did, she morphed her belly to shake and shimmer causing Holly to laugh. “Let’s go.” She assisted Holly down the alley and towards the pub. As they were walking, with Holly still pretending to feel weak and leaning on Tonks, the older woman paused when they were out of the crowd. “Word of advice Holly _Evans_ , when trying to disguise yourself, might be best to remove your house ring.” She winked at a stunned Holly before releasing her and stepping forward to the pub. “You’re still welcome to join me for lunch though Holly…” her voice dropped to a whisper. “… Potter.”

Holly caught herself as Tonks walked into the pub. How could she have bee so stupid? She willed the Potter Family Heiress ring away, watching as it melted into her finger. She also pulled down her sleeve to hide the bracelet around her wrist. Even if the Potter Family Heirloom had not left the vault in centuries, she was sure someone could recognise it. Damn Tonks, damn her eye for detail and damn Holly’s own forgetfulness about the ring. How had she not caught her major slip up before Tonks did? Then again did Holly expect anything less out of the future Auror? She had always admired the woman and this just added to the image of Tonks Holly had in her head.

Holly sighed, what was done was done. She considered asking Albus to come and memory charm Tonks but that seemed a bit extreme for such a minor slip up and Tonks herself had seemed cool about it. But all the same it was probably a good idea to make sure of that. She hurried into the pub and spied Tonks over in the same back booth she and Neville had sat at earlier today. Tonks waved Holly over and the young girl made her way there.

“Wotcher Holly Evans,” Tonks said her eyes gleaming with mirth. “Saved you a seat and already ordered us something to start.”

“You’re enjoying this a little too much,” Holly said darkly at Tonks’ teasing grin.

“It’s not everyday you find out the Girl-Who-Lived is a metamorphmagus who sneaks around Diagon Alley disguised as an adult woman and has claimed the Potter Family Heiress title,” Tonks said her hair shifting from blue to a stunning violet. “And knows my name for that matter.” She frowned as her hair darkened in colour. “How did you know my name?”

“I…”

“Don’t worry about it if you are going to lie again,” Tonks cut in before Holly could come up with a clever lie to cover her tracks. “I would rather you just say you don’t want to tell me how you know my name then lie, or just say nothing. I’m an exceptional liar myself so I know a poor attempt at one when I hear it. It’s cute but a bit sad that you keep trying to lie when you are complete bollocks at it.”

Her nose wrinkled as she gave Holly a hard look. “There’s plenty of very valid reasons you could know of me. You might have heard of me from school, or research into your own metamorphmagus abilities, or even from your mentor Dumbledore. I am sure he would have wanted to put you in contact with me if he knows about your abilities. Helped me a great deal in school when I was learning them. Still could never get my balance down but I see I am not the only one that struggles to not fall over.” She gave Holly a cheeky wink. “You still feeling dizzy?”

“I’m fine,” Holly said. She had intended to grill Tonks to make sure her own secrets were not revealed but suddenly Holly felt like she was on the wrong end of the grilling. “You’re not going to tell anyone about me, are you?”

“Me? No way,” Tonks said with a firm shake of her head. “I have a reputation of keeping secrets to uphold. If you can’t keep other people’s secrets than you shan’t have other people keep your own secrets, is what my father always says. Though mind you, I think that lesson just helped me get into more trouble than either of my parents liked. But I would like to know some more about you and those secrets. Purely out of interest and partially so I have some leverage over you if you are actually a stalker. Which would be rather strange, to have Holly Potter stalking me, but you did know my name and every time I mention that you look more guilty than a Weasley twin.”

Holly felt her body tense up. Could she really share her secrets with Tonks? On one hand the woman had probably been one of her best allies during the old timeline both before and after her death. She was smart, observant, kind, handy in a dual, talented as hell as an Auror, funny, pretty… Holly shook her head. What was she thinking? This was beyond risky just imagining letting Tonks in. This Tonks was not her Tonks. She was younger and did not know the first thing about Holly. She was not Tonks. But what made her different from Sirius or Albus? Neither of them were their selves from the old timeline. Neither had lived those lives. Yet she trusted them. Tonks was probably just as trustworthy or near enough.

“… how are your occlumency skills?” Holly asked, not believing what she was about to share. She would not tell Tonks everything, certainly not about the time travel or anything along those lines, but a few secrets to ensure her others were kept safe might be worth it. Besides this could net her a good ally in the form of the soon to be Auror.

“Auror level standard,” Tonks said. Her face suddenly took on a more neutral look as her hair lost a lot of colour. “I’ve passed those tests twice now and been rejected for Auror training on other merits both times.” Holly frowned. She remembered a conversation with Tonks' ghost in Azkaban about this. It was hard to recall but she distinctly remembered the first half of it.

_Did you know I did not pass my Auror entry test when I first took it Holly? Not the first time nor the second time. I was deemed too clumsy by the baboon of a man they had grading those tests. He would pull people up on the littlest mistake and fail them. I think he got off on rejecting people. Don’t know why. Maybe he was just an asshole. None of it mattered because after Christmas…_

“Know a good privacy charm?” Holly asked and Tonks nodded casting the familiar Muffliato charm around the booth. “So, what do you want to know?”

“More then you are willing to share I imagine,” Tonks said as her smile returned. “But that’s okay because I think I have a way to get by that.” She signalled to Tom the barkeeper who approached the table with a pair of shot glasses and a bottle of firewhisky. Tonks thanked him as he left and turned to Holly as she poured the glasses.

“You know I’m eleven right…” Holly said trying to maintain her innocents as she eyed the firewhisky.

“Yeah and your breath stinks of goblin ale,” Tonks said with a shrug. “If you want instead you can get butter beer but I for one really need a bloody drink. Besides you’re a metamorphmagus. If you want to drink few can stop you turning into an old granny and going to a muggle pub. That’s what I did when I was not too much older than you. At least this way there is someone of… assumed maturity to look after you” Tonk smirked at Holly before she downed the first and the second glasses without pausing. “That’s better. Figured I would try to catch up to you.” She began to pour two new glasses. “I won’t make you drink but if you want to do it this way it might be easier.”

“What are you thinking?” Holly said as she took the glass that was poured.

“Probably something stupid, immature and likely to backfire on me,” Tonks said with a grin as she grasped her own glass. “Never have I ever…” Holly felt her own hair light up flaming red in excitement as Tonks grinned back at her from across the table. After today, after seeing Cedric and thinking of all that mess nothing seemed more fun then playing drinking games with Tonks. Not to mention the alcohol would probably help with forgetting about the parts of today she did not want remembered. “… interested?”

“Bring it on Tonks.”

The women grinned across from one another as Tonks raised her glass. “Never have I ever…”

*

Sirius and his new friend, Crookshanks, stepped through the floo into Dumbledore’s office. Sirius had all Holly’s stuff shrunken in his pocket; James’ wand had already come in handy. He was glad Albus had made sure to keep his office empty of guests for today so Sirius was free to pop in and out. Sirius himself was not surprised to see the bearded headmaster sitting behind his desk with a look of contemplation upon his face. He seemed to be in deep thought as he looked over many notes across his desk. Upon the desk was also a familiar pensive nearly overflowing with swirling memories from Holly’s other timeline. He glanced up at Sirius as the man took a seat across from him with Crookshanks in his arms. Albus gave the cat a questioning look but said nothing.

“Cat got your tongue?” Sirius asked with a shit eating grin as he began to pet the bundle of fur and claws.

“Merely a case of surprise at your new friend,” Albus said with a chuckle. “I distinctly remember your dislike for Miss Evan’s tabby familiar in what must have been your fifth year.”

“That thing was a monster,” Sirius said as he rubbed the area that made Crookshanks purr loudest. “Not like this good fellow.”

“Perhaps but you cannot help seeing the similarities between the two,” Albus mused. “Same colouration of fur and just as fluffy. For a moment there I thought you might have found her wayward familiar.”

“Lily’s cat was a she,” Sirius said rolling his eyes. “Also not half-Kneazle.”

“No but if memory serves Priscilla was quite friendly with Professor Kettleburn’s many Kneazles,” Albus said his eyes twinkling. “Did she not have a litter that Miss Evans sold during your seventh year?”

“You don’t think…” Sirius looked down to Crookshanks and then back up with Dumbledore.

“It could be,” Albus said with a shrug. “Either way it is good to see Crookshanks outside of Holly’s memories.” He looked back to the pensive. “I think I understand Holly’s plan to capture Wormtail a lot better now. As well as many more things.” His face fell as he looked upon the swirling sea of memories.

“Anything I should see?” Sirius asked.

“You should at least view the highlights,” Albus said with a nod. “Holly was kind enough to provide those for the first thirty or so minutes of the pensive contents before it goes into more exact details on each event. I believe you may find some of it quite humours between the parts that make you horrified for what she has faced.” Sirius gulped as he leaned over to the pensive only for Dumbledore to reach out and stop him. “Before you go down the rabbit hole may I suggest a sobering potion?” He pointed at a few vials upon his desk. “It may be best to look at these with a clear mind.”

“Probably best,” Sirius said taking one of the potions. He had stayed a bit longer at Gringotts, drinking with Blüdiron, and could feel the ale giving him a happy buzz but knew Dumbledore was right. He should not be inebriated for this. “I could have used one of these last night when I was drinking with you.” He downed the potion.

“That is precisely why I felt the need to have them on hand for the foreseeable future,” Albus said with a small smile. “I paid dearly for not having them this morning.”

“Still tastes worse than the floor of a men’s public restroom,” Sirius said with a wince as the after taste of the potion hit him hard. “See you in a few…” And with that he dived into the memories.

Albus sorted his notes as he waited for Sirius to return from the pensive. He had found quite a few interesting things within his search of Holly’s memories. Little things here and there that they could address now or in the future. Even if they could not touch the Horcruxes yet there were other ways to erode Tom’s power base and stop separate terrible events from happening. The business with Sirius and Wormtail was just the start of the changes Dumbledore had in mind. He would be suggesting a few to Holly.

As he predicted, about thirty minutes later, Sirius returned from viewing the memory highlights. “Talk about the damn highlights of Holly’s life,” Sirius said. He was not sure if he wanted to laugh, cry or break something. “Holly sure knows how to understate a story. When she talked about the Basilisk I thought it was a large snake but that was a _fucking_ large snake. And the graveyard… she didn’t mention anything about them torturing her with the Cruciatus Curse. And then my damn cousin. Never have I wanted to strangle that woman more. And Snivellus… I wish I had gotten him killed by Moony.” Albus frowned at Sirius. “I don’t care that he came good in the end, it was only because he’s still creepily obsessed with Lily and that’s just not right.”

“Love can be a very powerful and dangerous thing,” Albus said with a sigh of resignation. “It can make us do miraculous, impossible things but also eat us away from the inside and turn us into monsters. It can be used and abused as easily as it can be cherished and fill us with joy. Severus has a lot of love, even if it is misplaced and leaves him stuck in the past. He can be a good man.”

There was silence for a few moments between the pair. “… I liked the part where every time you talked about fairness and kindness in the memories she inserted something mean or cruel Snivellus did,” Sirius said and watched as Albus’ beard twitched. “Or anytime something dangerous happened at Hogwarts she put in that speech from Hagrid about how safe it was.” Again Albus’ beard twitched. “Or how about the time you assured her Draco Malfoy was being taken care of in her sixth year only for him to later let in the Death Eaters and a werewolf to a school of children when you were not here to defend it.”

“Regardless of Holly’s sense of humour,” Albus said eyeing Sirius. “There were some important lessons to be learned in there. Many for me and others.” He sighed. “I have written out suggestions for Holly’s approval of things we can try to do differently.” He gestured to the pages of writing across his desk.

“There is something I still don’t understand,” Sirius said as he looked across the work Dumbledore had done. “Why has Holly got to do all this? You know what must happen now, you’ve certainly worked out ways to help the future, so why don’t you just do it all? Why are you waiting on her approval?”

“Do you remember the prophecy within her memories?” Albus asked and Sirius nodded. “Only Holly can defeat Tom. Fate has declared that and there is no fighting it. Trust me I have tried to fight Fate before, and it just doesn’t work.” Albus could not help but clutch at his wand as his mind recalled the first and last prophecy he had tried to defy. “Holly will be the one to kill Tom once and for all. I can help. You can help. But she must do it by her own hands not ours. We are but mere pieces in a bigger game and only Holly can win this.

“More so do you know what my biggest failing was in the old timeline?” Sirius shook his head. “I did what I thought was best and made decisions for Holly. So, when I died and was not around to make them anymore, she had no idea what to do. She stepped up and did remarkably well, even tried to follow my poor set of clues that I left behind, but one mistake was all it took to upset the flow of the plan. It was my mistake, my failing. I should have trained her from the start. I should have made her into the leader she is going to be. The hero. I should have taught her how to survive what she must do so then she can live after that. What is the point of having a childhood if you are never actually living your life?

“As long as Tom lives Holly will never have a life, not truly. I fear only now do I really understand the words ‘ _for neither can live while the other survives’_. There is nothing I can do to make Holly’s current life the ideal childhood full of blissful ignorance and the child like wonder that all children deserve to experience. The time for that is over and I failed her. I cannot say why my other self in that timeline failed to do what I am doing now. Maybe he believed that she could still be happy with Tom alive, still have the childhood she deserves and still enjoy the gift of ignorance. I will not make his mistake. I will treat Holly like the adult she is and the clever, kind, caring woman she will… has become. She deserves that much.”

“Albus…” Sirius said feeling a lump form in his throat. “Listen, I know I was angry at you last night and I said some things that… well I wish I had not.”

“I understand completely Sirius,” Albus said raising a hand. “What I did with Holly and the Dursleys is unforgiveable, despite what she may claim. I cannot write that wrong or any of the others from her original timeline, but I can make sure I never make such a mistake again.”

“I know you won’t Albus,” Sirius said a smile forming across his face. “You’re a good man and you’ll make it up to her. Your mistakes are not unforgivable.” He scoffed at the old man. “I am pretty sure the only one of us between you, Holly and I who can never forgive you for that is yourself. What is important now is that she is safe and happy.”

As if on cue there was a flash of light and two bodies fell over one another as they appeared in the office. Holly pushed aside an unconscious Tonks, still gripping the portkey as she looked up at the pair staring down at her. Her eyes were wide and fearful. “Sirius… Albus,” she said gasping for breath. “Fighting in Diagon Alley…. Moody is hurt... go help.”

Albus was quick to his feet. “Fawkes,” he called, and the bird flew over to him, sweeping the papers off his desk before bursting into flames and the two of them disappeared.

“Holly are you okay?” Sirius said rushing over to his goddaughter. His eyes widened as he recognised the woman laying aside Holly. “Nymphadora? Is she…”

“She’s fine,” Holly said rolling the woman over and off of Holly’s legs. “Just blackout drunk.” It was if saying the words suddenly brought Holly’s own inebriated state back. “We had… a bit to drink.” Holly’s words were slow as she grinned up at Sirius while she tried and failed to get herself up off the ground. She managed to somehow flip herself over and ended up dangling across Sirius’ feet giggling. “Padfoot’s… padfeet.”

“More than just a bit it seems,” Sirius said shaking his head as he leaned down to Holly. “Come on now.” He helped Holly up and into the chair he had just vacated. “Here have this…” He took one of Dumbledore’s sobriety potions and handed it to her. “Drink the whole thing.”

“Urrrgh,” Holly groaned as she sipped the potion before making a face. “This tastes like ass...”

“Drink the rest of it.”

“I hate you,” Holly said holding her nose before chugging the rest of the potion.

“Love you too Thunderfart,” Sirius said patting her on the back.

“Still not happening Sirius,” Holly said at the use of that name. “My head is swimming a bit… where’s Albus? Did he go to the alley?”

“Yeah I think he’ll have it all taken care of,” Sirius said glancing over to where a curious Crookshanks had snuggled up with a drunk, sleeping Tonks. “Care to step out of sight from a passed-out woman who might awaken to find a cousin she believes to be a murderous criminal talking with a girl who might be his next target? Then you can explain to me exactly what is going on.” Crookshanks by now seemed to have claimed Tonks as his new source of body warmth.

“Good call,” Holly said and they walked out into Dumbledore’s quarters and closed the door. “Okay so real quick here’s what happened.” Holly proceeded to explain to Sirius about walking back from the bank only to run into the Diggorys and then Tonks. She told him of how she exposed herself accidently to Tonks and then went to make sure Tonks was not going to blab about her secrets. “And then before I know it, we’re playing a drinking game. I don’t even know how that happened honestly.”

“Yeah that happens a lot around Black women,” Sirius said scratching his head. “Her mother once tricked James and I into joining her for a round of drinks during our school days. Woke up in an abandoned classroom halfway across the school without a clue how I got there or where my clothes were. Had to streak all the way back to the common rooms… McGonagall saw me run past and managed to give me detention before transfiguring me some robes.” Holly laughed as Sirius smiled down at her. “Anyway, so you played a drinking game with Tonks. How did that go?”

“Rather well actually,” Holly said with a grin. “Never have I ever is surprisingly easy when you know the person you are playing against really well and they hardly know a thing about you besides the obvious stuff.”

“Atta girl,” Sirius said clapping Holly on the back. “Using that future knowledge to get young pretty women drunk. Never have I ever been prouder of someone in my whole life.” He mimed wiping a pretend tear away.

“Never have I ever wanted to smack you in the face more,” Holly said shoving Sirius. “Tonks is… she’s pretty but that’s not meant to happen. Besides she knows who I am and that I am supposed to be eleven no matter how I look so don’t go getting any ideas.” Holly did not like the look in Sirius’ eyes. “Do you want to hear what happened next?” He nodded. “Then be quite and listen.

“So, the game was winding down. Tonks was off her ass, but I was managing to stay somewhat coherent. She had drunk a lot more than me, but I think my occlumency was helping as well. In fact, I was just thinking along those lines when I remembered the rest of that conversation with Tonks while in Azkaban. I had it all stored up here in my occlumency magic.” She tapped the side of her head. “Just needed to figure out how to access it, which I think the alcohol helped with. I remembered that the rest of it was Tonks talking about how she was really depressed after failing her second application to Auror training. She decided to go get drunk the morning she got her rejection letter back.” Sirius raised his hand as if in class. “Yes Sirius?”

“Let me guess,” he said. “That day just happened to be today.”

“Got it in one but wait, it gets better,” Holly said with a dry chuckle. “Because you know what was supposed to happen today? Tonks was going to have a few drinks alone, wallow in her self-pity but head off and run into a nervous looking fella out in the alley. At the same time an Auror team led by Alastor Moody was going to raid a shop that was a front for a smugglers group. Turns out this man was there early look out and would have spotted the Aurors without Tonks distracting him. When he did hear the commotion, he would have tried to attack them from behind, only for Tonks to take him down. But can you guess what happened now?”

“Tonks never bumped into him,” Sirius said his eyes widening. “So the smugglers got alerted to the Auror raid. They were ready.”

“Sure did, and now there’s a freaking battle happening in the alley between the Aurors and the smugglers who would have been taken by surprise if I had not interfered,” Holly said her eyes darkening. “To cap that off because I removed Tonks from the picture she now can’t impress Moody who would have taken her in under his wing during his retirement. That was her ticket into becoming an Auror and I screwed it up.”

“Holly… that was not your fault,” Sirius said putting an arm around her and pulling her close. “You could not have known your actions would cause this. You did not remember this and even if you did you had no real way of knowing that this was that day. You could have guessed but that would have just been a guess. This was an accident. A mistake anyone could have made without even noticing it.” Sirius knew he messed up when Holly pulled away. It was that damn word again. That and Holly’s insistent on blaming every little thing upon herself.

“It is my fault Sirius,” Holly said with a deep frown. “I did this. I caused this. I changed things. Knowing that I was doing it at the time or not makes no difference. If I can’t even keep the few good things from the old timeline in this one than what chance do I have of changing the bad things? When every little thing I do makes bad things happen to people I loved in the old timeline how can I save the people I lost? How can I even attempt any of that when it all goes badly?”

“This isn’t about Tonks,” Sirius said as for the first time in his life he was hit with a sudden realisation that almost knocked him to the ground. “It’s about Cedric. You said you saw him right before you met Tonks. Right before you had a panic attack that exposed you to her. This is not about losing Tonks a chance at a job that we can probably get back for her or causing an Auror raid to go badly… not really. This is about Cedric Diggory and your fear that you cannot save him. Or anyone else for that matter.”

It was then that the water works came on and Holly buried her face into Sirius’ shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Holly cried as Sirius wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry…” She sniffled as he rubbed her back. “But if I can’t change things and I can’t save Cedric… and I can’t save… you. I can’t let you die again.”

“That’s not going to happen Holly,” Sirius said as he rubbed her back. “Listen, you are not in this alone, you have Dumbledore and me. We are going to help you to do the best you can and save everyone we can. We won’t let the same mistakes of the past timeline occur again. Dumbledore already has a mountain of suggestions and ideas he wants to run by you for changes to the timeline to give us every little advantage we can muster. We won’t make the same mistake again.” He almost caught himself on the use of that word but instead of fear, Holly looked up at him with determination. “Right now, we need to deal with the immediate situation. How much does Tonks know?”

“Not much more than she had already worked out,” Holly said with a shrug. “Just that I am Holly Potter, I am a metamorphmagus, I am the Heiress of the Potter Family, I knew who she was for some reason and… little details. Nothing big. Honestly, I think she was more interested in drinking and the game was just an excuse to not have to drink alone.” Holly paused as Sirius gave her a mother-henning look. “Okay maybe I also wanted an excuse to drink. And I thought Tonks would be fun. Take my mind off of things. But she was clearly hiding a lot of sadness behind her façade today and that came out when we started drinking.”

“I’m no stranger to that type of drinking buddy,” Sirius said with a deep sigh. “A lot of sad drunks in the war and plenty of booze to be had. But it gets hard to stay happy when you are both secretly miserable, even when the firewhisky is flowing freely.” He placed a firm hand on Holly’s shoulder. “Listen, we will sort this out. Once Dumbledore gets back we can work through this. And remember that you don’t need to find an excuse to drink. As far as I am concerned you are an adult and can do what you damn please. Just next time come find me. We’ll get a bottle, sit down, have a talk and…”

“Shhhh,” Holly said placing a finger on Sirius’ lips. “You hear that?”

Sirius strained his ears to hear what sounded like a faint scratching and muffled meows behind the door. “That’s just Crookshanks,” he said with a shrug. “Probably wants more pets and can smell where we went.”

“That cat is a lot smarter than you give him credit for,” Holly said breaking away from Sirius. “He’s trying to warn us of something. Put this on and back me up.” Holly threw her cloak to Sirius as she pulled out her wand and went for the door.

“Stay close,” Sirius said slipping on the cloak and pulling out James’ wand.

Together they stepped out into a normal looking Headmaster’s Office. Nothing seemed out of place. There were no unexpected people in here. No sign of any other danger. Albus’ notes lay scattered about around his desk. His pensive was still upon the desk with Tonks head deep in it. There was another empty vail of sobriety potion next to… Holly did a double take as she looked back to Tonks and the pensive, her eyes widening. Crookshanks meowed as if to say, I was trying to warn you.

Holly rushed forward to Tonks and yanked her back out of the pensive. The suddenly stone-cold sober woman looked at Holly in shock. Her mouth open in the shape of a small ‘o’. “You… I saw… but… how… you were…” she stumbled over her words. “The Philosopher’s Stone… the Chamber of Secrets… Sirius Black… Sirius Black!” She pointed at Holly. “Sirius Black is innocent… he was in your memories, but they were memories of when you were older, things that have not happened yet. Things that now cannot happen because Sirius Black broke out of prison earlier then they happened in your memories. What in the flaming hell are you? Some sort of seer?”

“Close,” Sirius said dropping the cloak. “But not quite.”

“Ahhhhhhhh,” Tonks screamed, pointing now at Sirius.

“Quiet, you know I am innocent, you saw that much, and if you must know Holly and Albus Dumbledore broke me out early before I could get out myself,” Sirius explained only to get a look of surprise from Holly. “She knows way more than she should right now as it is. We may as well tell her. Unless you want to have a go at Obliviating her because I sure as hell know I will mess it up.” He gestured vaguely at Tonks with James’ wand.

“Yeah I will probably mess it up to,” Holly said with her own wand still held out. “But we might have to… or at least hold her till Dumbledore gets back.”

“As the person currently being talked about as a target for a possible failed memory charm, do I get a vote?” Tonks asked feeling the burning desire to have her own wand in her hand. But she was not willing to try and draw it with two already out and pointed vagally in her direction. “Because I would really like to keep my memory intact and without any damage to it from a memory charm mishap.”

“Relax,” Sirius said putting away the wand. “I’m not going to memory charm you and I know Holly would never try that on you. Might not have gotten there yet in the highlights but Holly was good friends with you in the future so she probably couldn’t harm you if she tried.” He stepped up to Tonks and leaned close to her, his voice dropping to a stage whisper. “Besides she thinks you’re pretty. Ouch!” Sirius hopped away grasping his shin from the kick Holly had just delivered to it.

“Sorry about him,” Holly said scolding her godfather. “Sometimes he forgets to stop talking and you need to remind him.” Sirius was still hopping around and hissing in pain. “Anyway, this is a long ass story that I am going to simplify for the sake of…” Holly paused as she glanced at the pensive. “You know what, let’s make this easy. All the context you need is I am a time traveller from an alternate timeline and that contains the rest of it there.” She gestured at the pensive. “Watch it at your pleasure.”

“Am I still drunk?” Tonks said glancing between the hopping godfather and his resigned looking goddaughter. “Because I swear I drank a sobriety potion just before.”

“Just watch it,” Holly said pushing Tonks back towards the pensive. She turned back to Sirius who had stopped hopping around the room. She quickly pressed a finger up to her nose. “Dibs not explaining this one to Albus.”

“Fine but you have to answer her questions she’ll have after this,” Sirius said with a smirk at Tonks who was back in the pensive.

“I figured I would have to anyway,” Holly said with a deep sigh. “Sirius… you ever get the feeling that everything you do just causes more mess?”

“That’s life Holly,” Sirius said with a wolfish grin. “It’s just like that. You either sink or swim but no matter what you do it just keeps raining and sometimes it will try and throw you from your broom… now I know that doesn’t really work with the analogy I was on about but… look on the bright side? There’s always a silver lining?” Sirius furrowed his brow. “Don’t count your eggs before they hatch? An apple a day…”

“This one really got away on you huh?” Holly said.

“Yeah… it kind of did but Holly just believe me when I say that we are going to help you through this,” Sirius said. “You are not alone in this.”

Holly nodded and felt strangely reassured. As if to agree with her a grumble came from her stomach. She never had gotten around to having lunch. “I am going to duck down to the kitchens to get something to eat,” Holly said picking up the cloak and pulling out the map. “Want me to grab you anything?”

“Bring me whatever you are having,” Sirius said with a shrug as he fell into a chair besides Tonks. “I’ll watch her and make sure she’s okay. If Dumbledore gets back I can start explaining things to him. Then after lunch you can have your conversation with Tonks.”

“Fun,” Holly said rolling her eyes as she wrapped the cloak around her and left in search of food. Sirius’ analogies might have gotten lost on him but his words had helped to set her mind at ease. There were still things to worry about and so many other things she could not hope to control but he was right. At least she was not alone in all this mess.

Looking on the bright side of things from today, there was now the prospect of Tonks joining them. And that filled Holly with a strange sense of happiness. Things had always felt better around the quirky Auror. Holly could not explain it but she put it down to the energy Tonks seemed to embody. It filled her with a sense of joy. She had missed joy during her long years in Azkaban. Holly smiled knowing that such an emotion was not gone from her forever.

*

“So let me get this straight… time travel,” Tonks said again… for the fifth time. “Like actual real time travel. Not a time turner or some other minor magic where you go back a few hours but actual real time travel over years of time. One where your mind, magic and soul travelled back to your eleven-year-old body.”

“I don’t think you could possibly sum it up any better than that,” Holly said with a shrug. “And you’ve tried five times now.”

“Yeah but… how?”

“No idea,” Holly said as she absentmindedly paged through Albus’ notes. “Even Albus can’t explain it. All I remember was the cracks in reality and then flashes of… things before being back in my younger body. Albus theorised I might have lost some memories around those flashes, but he checked me for memory charms or other damage, there is nothing missing between the cracks and my return to this time. Right now those flashes he thinks might be other timelines or realities… but none of it explains how I travelled back. I think his leading theory right now is Fate but nothing on this scale has ever been attributed to her.”

“Fate is a real being?” Tonks asked. “And a woman?”

“Albus believes she is,” Holly said frowning over the Headmaster’s notes. “And who am I to say differently? She’s certainly enjoyed playing with me if she is real. Which as her play toy I can tell you with certainty that she is a cruel mistress.”

“Huh,” Tonks said. She was seated across from Holly at the Headmaster’s desk. Outside the afternoon sun was close to setting. The pensive lay empty upon the desk, memories returned to Holly, Sirius was out getting some air around Hogsmead as Padfoot and Albus had popped in long enough to exchange information with them before heading off to the Ministry. The fight in Diagon Alley was still being dealt with. Luckily there were no casualties, but Moody had been pretty badly injured and although he was stable, they were not sure if his left arm could be saved. “It looks like you have already changed the timeline quite a bit in only a few days.”

“Yeah tell me about it,” Holly said with a dark look. “Every little thing I do seems to cause something to happen. Today it was something completely unpredictable… well maybe if I had of remembered our conversation from the future and put two and two together…”

“Something else would have happened eventually,” Tonks interrupted before Holly could go down that path again. “You yourself said it. You are not going to sit by and let things unfold the way they did originally. So it stands to reason that stuff like this is going to happen. It’s like a pond. And you are not content to let the pond remain still. Everything you do, every action you take, every action you do not take, that’s a stone thrown into the pond. And that ripples out across the whole pond, you can’t stop them and most of those ripples you won’t want to stop. Most of those ripples will save and help people. Most of them will make this timeline better than your last one. Most of them you will want to happen.”

Holly gave Tonks a hard look. “What is it with you and Sirius with your water analogies?”

“Maybe it’s a Black Family trait,” Tonks said with a shrug. “Either way you better get used to it Heiress Black.” She smirked at Holly who pouted. “Back to what I was saying, nothing you did today was your fault. You cannot hold yourself accountable for everything. Just because you are unintentionally the cause of one thing happening doesn’t mean the next thing that happens is your fault. And even if it was your fault it was a mistake you made.” There was the Holly Potter patterned flinch. “Yes you are going to make them, and yes they are not your fault. Mistakes are a part of life and everyone makes them, time traveller or not.”

“I can’t afford to make them,” Holly said grimly. “If I mess up people will die, be hurt or worse. Look I already messed up your future life because of my stupid mistakes.”

“I forgive you,” Tonks said, catching Holly off guard and making her do a double take. “Not that I really have to since it is not your fault in the first place but you’re too thick skulled to listen to me about that. So, if you want to be at blame for this then fine, I forgive you, and now it is alright.” Holly looked to be at a loss for words. “Future me never really told you why I wanted to be an Auror did she?” Holly shook her head. “I want to help people… besting dark wizards and going on adventurers was a fantasy I had as a kid but at the end of the day I just want to help people and ensure they are safe. There’s a reason I was sorted into Hufflepuff.”

“But I ruined that.”

Tonks just smiled at Holly. “No you have given me a chance to help more people in a way that matters a heck of a lot more then sitting behind a desk and doing paper work,” Tonks said. “That’s what most of an Auror’s job is between the few dark wizards that pop up. This though.” She gestured at the desk of notes. “This is something that is really going to happen. There’s a war coming Holly. Four years from now in your original timeline I would be helping out with the Order anyway. This way I just get to start early. And I know just the way to begin.” She picked up one of Dumbledore’s notes and held it out to Holly.

“What is that?” Holly asked looking at a list Dumbledore had written.

“Suggestions of things you can start learning now,” Tonks said. “Dumbledore thinks you can work on these even with your small magical channels and they should help you develop those. Let me see here.” She took the list back and began to read from it. “Refinement of animagus skill, elemental magic, charms that rely more on will power and emotion over magical output (patronus and summing charm for example), other low magic taxing spells (first year spells to start with), metamorphmagus training…” She glanced up at Holly. “I can help with most of this. Especially the metamorphmagus stuff.”

“So you want to be my what?... teacher?” Holly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tonks’ eyes lit up with mischief as her hair retreated up her head and pulled itself into a bun without her hands even touching it. The colour drained form her hair becoming mousy brown as she reached forward and stole Holly’s glasses.

“That’s Professor Tonks to you,” she said in a perfect imitation of McGonagall’s voice as she slipped on the glasses. “Give this some…” She glanced around to check that Sirius had not returned yet. She was not going to get got by the same joke twice after the first time she had been careless with her use of this word.“… serious thought. Dumbledore is going to be busy as hell with arranging other stuff and his own duties, Sirius is still a wanted criminal and unavailable to you all the time and no one else knows the truth. It is not unusual for a mentor to hire tutors for their mentee and I have already had private lessons from Dumbledore during my time here at Hogwarts. Thanks to his transfiguration mastery he was able to teach me how to use my abilities and it makes sense I would be passing that knowledge on down to you along with everything else I have. My grades were good enough for me to go for my Auror exam twice, just getting there once is hard enough.”

“You make a good point,” Holly said as she frowned at the blur that was Tonks. “I’ll talk with Albus about it and get his opinion, but I think I would like your help. Now can you give me back my glasses?” She held out her hand.

“Of course,” Tonks said passing them to Holly as her hair left the bun shape she had been maintaining and returned to its bubble-gum pink colour. “Though if you learn from me you won’t need your glasses. You can shift your eyes to correct vision problems.”

“Now that’s a huge plus,” Holly said with a smirk as she put her glasses back on and stood up. “I’ll need to look over these later.” Holly gestured with the bundle of Albus’ notes. “There’s some good ideas but I should head back to my common room. Ron’s probably started worrying again.” She placed the notes into Albus’ desk draw that shut with a click as the mechanical and magical security measures activated. “You going to be alright?”

“Yeah,” Tonks said with a nod. “I’ll stay to talk to Sirius for a bit when he gets back then floo home to my parents. Thanks Holly, for trusting me. I know you and Sirius were joking about that memory charm but if I was in your situation, I might have been tempted by it.”

“Don’t worry about it Tonks,” Holly said with a smile as she gathered her things that Sirius had brought back for her. Crookshanks was asleep on Tonks’ lap so he could stay there for now but the rest of her shopping needed to be put away. “You’re my friend, I don’t think I could have done that to you even if I could pull off the spell.”

“That and you think I am pretty,” Tonks said with a shit eating grin.

“Shut up,” Holly grumbled as she fought the urge to look for her godfather to kick again.

Instead she exited before the pink headed woman could embarrass her further. Tonks laughed as Holly retreated. This was going to be more fun than even she had imagined. She smiled to herself and thanked her lucky stars that Holly had bumped into her today. Now she had a chance to make a real difference and be involved with something that mattered for the future well-being of everyone. It was all she had ever wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a massive chapter. I could not for the life of me work out a good place to break this up and I really did not want to anyway as I am eager to move on. So I just decided to post the whole thing as it is. I am not a hundred percent happy with it but for now it will do. 
> 
> Not sure if cutting out the scene with Holly and Tonks drinking was a good idea or not but it was such an unnecessary cutback or flashback that could be so easily explained by Holly in a few sentences. It also made this chapter even longer then it already is. 
> 
> Also bonus points if anyone knows the story that I took inspiration from for Holly making a highlight reel of memories for Albus to view. 
> 
> Once more feedback and comments are appreciated.


	5. Vows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly reconnects with her friends and reluctantly shares some secrets with them for their own safety. Classes resume and Holly is quick to adapt to them. But while dealing with her friend’s annoying insecurities and worrying over some very clear changes to the time she misses other ones happening behind the scenes, something very bad is brewing unnoticed by Holly or anyone else…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again I know but I am still earlier then last week and honestly, I am happy to get these out around once a week. It’s certainly the best I have ever stuck to a deadline. I enjoyed writing this chapter.

**Chapter 05:** Vows

Holly spent her last couple days before term resumed starting her lessons with Albus. Sure enough Tonks was right, the man was often too busy to give her much dedicated one on one work. But he whipped up a masterful study plan that Tonks and Sirius ran her through in his office. The two of them were more than capable at helping Holly go through the first-year spells while concentrating on a single higher-level spell that relied on something other then magic to fuel it. They had started on and were still working on the summoning charm. Admittedly one of Holly’s favourite spells from the old timeline, alongside the patronus and the disarming charm.

So far Holly had managed to work through most of the first-year charms. Her magical channel was already opening up nicely and although she could not sustain many spells in a row or any one spell over a long time the progress was promising. The only problem had been when Holly had tried har hand at the severing charm. The destructive results were reason enough as to hold back on that one for now. Similarly, the fire-making spell had been vetoed till they could be in a more controlled environment to practice. Holly had suggested the Room of Requirements and Tonks was in the process of checking that out.

Right now Holly was working on sustaining spells over a long time, through the use of the the levitation charm, and controlling the immense power she had at hand by way of the summoning spell since it could not harm her or anyone else as long as she concentrated on the item avoiding other people. In addition, the spell itself seemed to have some sort of safety on it that stopped objects she summoned from knocking into her, instead they gently landed in her hands. Holly found she was remarkably good at calling forward objects. As a test, Albus had placed several objects in the forbidden forest that Holly had summoned through the window of his office. Not only was she able to recall every object in enough detail as to summon it but they arrived within seconds of casting the spell.

Part of her success with the summoning charm had to be attributed to her recently developed occlumency powers. She found that her memory was near perfect and that as long as she decided to commit something to memory she could recall it instantaneously. In the few private lessons Albus had managed to have with her, he had focused on teaching her how to improve this ability. By now she could categorise her whole life into easy to access sections that were divided up by key events.

Holly was able to search through it like it was her own personal database on the life of Holly Potter. A single keyword to link her to hundreds of memories while a feeling alone could take her directly to a specific one. She hoped this would allow her to maintain her cover and stop making any more mistakes. She had already been using this ability to manage the differences in the timeline but now that Albus had taught her the more refined version she was able to maximise the use of it.

She had asked why Hogwarts did not teach this to every student. It seemed like being able to recall information like this would be a vital skill. Hell, why was half the magic they were going to teach Holly not taught as well? Every mage had the ability to master an element or learn other ancient magics. Albus had simply sighed and explained that the Hogwarts curriculum was very strict about what could and could not be taught by the faculty. It was near impossible to even hint that a regular student should learn these skills themselves let alone teach them in class.

He theorised that it was this reason his self from the other timeline had had Professor Snape try to teach her occlumency. Though his brute force method had not been right for teaching a pupil like Holly, he had seemed to be willing to sacrifice his career and spying ability if the Hogwarts Board of Governors had ever discovered this. Holly mentally added this as one of the many things to fix regarding the school.

Other then her lessons she had played chess and quidditch with Ron, talked plans about cleaning up and securing Grimmauld Place over the winter with Sirius and Tonks and managed to pay the twins back the money she owed them. The pair of redheads had been bouncing off the wall as they talked about all the ideas they had in mind for this money. Holly had made them promise her to not use it to hurt or bully the innocent students with their pranks. She had told them it was a Marauder rule to only prank those who deserved it or could take a joke, and no Slytherins did not deserve it by default. Technically it was not a lie either as that was Holly’s new rule she had made as a Marauder. The Twins had agreed, on the condition they begin their animagus training now.

Holly had been pleased about this, as the first lesson was learning to meditate. She had pointed them to a library book on magical meditation and told them to practice the guided meditation with each other. This was merely a preparation step in the process, but it was vital before Holly could try her own modified version of the ritual on them. The twins seemed eager nonetheless. Right now it was the day before term and Holly had been trying hard not to think of this evening. She had gotten up early and spent the day out running laps around the quidditch pitch before taking her Muscle and Fat Growth Potion for the week.

Luckily, Ron was busy trying to make every moment before the beginning of term last by lazing around the common room, so he was out of Holly’s hair. It was who was coming this afternoon that she dreaded. It was as she made her way up to the castle that she saw them on the Marauder’s Map. A dot labelled ‘Hermione Granger’ had appeared on the far side of the school grounds along with a stream of other names. It was not the return of Hermione that Holly dreaded, rather the reaction to seeing the girl again, her reaction to Ron had been bad enough but Hermione had spent time comforting Holly in Azkaban. She could never thank the ghost of the woman enough for the pain she had endured due to the properties of the Resurrection Stone.

Holly could feel herself getting choked up already. Deciding that she was not having this conversation now, she ducked behind Hagrid’s hut and put on her invisibility cloak. By the time she got up to the castle the first few students were already arriving from the carriages. They were exhausted after a full day’s ride on the Hogwarts express but seemed glad to be back at the familiar castle. Holly weaved through them and disappeared into the upper floors of the school. She passed by Ron as he made his way down for the first time today, she would let him take the brunt of Hermione’s welcome back for now. Holly had things to get first anyway before she caught up with them.

Holly went back up to her dorm, taking a shower and laying around on her bed for a while as she watched Hermione and Ron on the map. They took a walk out by one of the courtyards while other students mulled around the school. It was about half an hour before they headed back towards the Grand Staircase. Dinner was still an hour or so off and they were not headed to the Great Hall so she figured they were looking for her. That was Holly’s cue. She got up and put her invisibility cloak back on before making her way down, out of the common room.

Holly used passages that she knew Hermione and Ron would not have discovered this early in the timeline to navigate down towards them. She found herself right in their path as she ducked into a disused classroom. Leaving the door ajar she placed a box under the teacher’s desk and a smaller package atop it. Pulling out her wand she cast the Muffliato charm on the doorway. Her magic worked perfectly this time. The strain on her channels was noticeable but did her no harm.

Watching the map she waited right till Ron and Hermione were directly in line with the partially open door before she flicked a her wand in their direction. “ _Accio_ _Hogwarts: A History_ ,” Holly said thinking of the book that rarely left Hermione’s side. Sure enough the book came rocketing into the room before Holly grasped it and placed it aside. She did not hear the reaction from outside but the dots on the map suddenly turned towards the door. “Mischief managed.” Holly grinned at how appropriate the phrase was as she put the map away.

“I’m telling you Hermione,” Ron said as he stepped through the door and past the ani eavesdropping charm. “It’s probably just Peeves having a laugh.”

“Regardless Ron I really need that book ba…. Holly!” Hermione exclaimed rushing towards the girl in question. She seemed to catch herself as she reached Holly with arms held wide open, unable to decide if a hug was appropriate or not. Holly made the decision for her and pulled the bushy-haired girl into a hug. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and had to fight back a sniffle. To her surprise she felt Hermione cry too. “I’m so glad to see you again. I missed both you and Ron so much over Christmas. Being unable to write to you both was killing me.”

Ron could see Holly’s teary face and hear Hermione let out a happy sob between her sentences. “Girls,” he scoffed rolling his eyes. “You’re apart from each other for barely a couple weeks and look at yourselves.”

Holly grinned, same old Ron. She felt Hermione stiffen and could picture the frown upon her face at Ron’s words. Same old Hermione too. Before they could start up at one another Holly decided to distract them. “I believe you might be missing this,” she said as she pulled away from Hermione and gestured to the copy of Hogwarts: A History.

“But… how?” Hermione said suddenly abandoning Holly in favour of her first true love, a good book.

“ _Accio quill_ ,” Holly said pointing her wand to the other side of the room and summoned an old broken quill to her hand.

“That’s the summoning charm,” Hermione exclaimed her eyes wide. “But we’re not supposed to learn that till fourth year.” She looked nervously at Holly as if the girl was about to be in trouble for casting a spell she should not have learned yet.

“Albus taught it to me,” Holly said with a shrug. She noticed the unusual glance shared between her friends at her use of the Headmaster’s first name. “He says my magical core is of adult size so I can learn spells that do not require me to strain my magical channels.” Ron looked as lost as Holly explained the carefully crafted explanation she had come up with, but Hermione’s mouth formed into a small ‘o’ of understanding. Holly was pretty could at thinking up plausible lies if she had some preparation time. “The summoning charm relies more on will power and a clear visualisation of the object you desire rather then the amount of magic your body can channel at once.”

“Blimey…” Ron exclaimed as Hermione almost looked ready to take notes. “… when did you turn into… well Hermione.” Both girls gave Ron a look that made him back peddle fast. “Not that there is anything wrong with that. It’s just that you sound like… like you are giving a lecture.” Hermione frowned at him. “Not the usual annoying sort…” Hermione’s frown turned to a glare. “… but like the lectures we get from teachers.”

“I personally think it is good that Holly is taking an interest in learning Ronald,” Hermione said. Holly rolled her eyes as Ron flinched at the use of his longer name. Only two women in the last timeline could ever cause him to react like that, and the other one was his mother. “It seems Holly’s apprenticeship to Professor Dumbledore is doing her some good. She is very lucky to be learning from such a distinguished wizard.” She smiled at Holly. Ron breathed a sigh of relief as attention seemed to be turned away from him. “Speaking of which, congratulations Holly, I imagine your lessons with Professor Dumbledore will be ever so interesting.”

Holly was not accustomed to getting a look of jealousy from Hermione. It looked out of place upon her face alongside Ron who appeared like he barely cared about this. Her conversation with him about the extra schoolwork seemed to have completely turned him off of feeling any jealousy for this new development in Holly’s life. “It has been fascinating so far,” Holly said. She mustered up the best natural smile she could as she looked at Hermione. “Though most of what I have been learning is revision.” Holly scratched the back of her neck. “I was not the best student at the beginning of the year, and I am suffering for that. I intend not to make the same mistake twice. I was actually hoping you could help me with that and in return maybe I could share some of the things Albus is teaching me?”

Hermione’s eyes widened at that and her bottom lip quivered. For a moment there, Holly was sure that the waterworks was going to start up again but instead she merely nodded her head. “I would be happy to help Holly,” Hermione said beaming. “We can work on what Professor Dumbledore teaches you together.” She was giddy with excitement. “I’ll do up revision plans and homework charts and…”

“I’ll teach you what he says is safe to pass on,” Holly said causing Hermione to frown. “There’s a reason he took me as an apprentice. My magic is… unusual. My core is at a size that most adult wizards and witches would be lucky to have. You will not be able to do everything he teaches me immediately without risking injury. But you can learn it later as your core grows.”

This seemed to satisfy Hermione but now it was Ron’s turn to frown. “Is this going to be the rest of the year?” Ron asked glancing between the girls. “You two doing even more schoolwork among everything else we already have to do.” He looked rather put out by this prospect. “What about other important things? Like Quidditch and hanging out with me? Are we even going to get to play more games of wizard’s chess? Because no offense Holly but… you’ve already been mostly gone from the common room over the last few days and half the times I have wanted to hang out you’ve been busy with lessons from Dumbledore.”

“You have a fair point Ron,” Holly said. He was right, she had been gone a lot. “But I have still managed to make time for you. Maybe not as much as you enjoyed before my apprenticeship, but I will always make the time for both of you.” She looked at Ron and Hermione. “You are my friends, my first friends besides Hedwig and Hagrid. I dare say my best friends.”

“You’re both my best friends too,” Hermione said her voice rising in pitch. Her eyes were watering again.

“Easy there, mate,” Ron said as Hermione sniffled. “You’ll have Hermione sobbing again.” Despite his words Ron looked a mixture of embarrassed and not far off tears himself. “You’re right, you have made time for me, even with the extra stuff on your plate. Thanks for that. But with classes starting again and homework being expected once more… I’m just worried we won’t have much time together anymore.”

“I may have a solution for that,” Holly said rubbing her hands together.

“Dumbledore did teach you a homework cheat after all!” Ron exclaimed.

“Ronald,” Hermione yelled in shock, she looked like someone had just insulted her own mother. “I’m sure Professor Dumbledore would not teach Holly how to cheat at her homework.”

“It’s not cheating,” Holly said shaking her head. “It’s a technique that allows one to sort their thoughts and memories as well as recall information with stunning accuracy and speed as a side effect to protecting your mind from mental attacks.”

“Sounds hard…” Ron said. Hermione’s eyes were comically large by now. “… but if it means we get to hang out more and spend less time on homework and revision, I’m game.” Hermione looked like the idea of spending less time on such matters was a sin to begin with. “When can we learn?”

“I bought you something to help with it,” Holly said bringing out a thick package wrapped in brown paper from under the desk. “Consider it a late Christmas present from me.” She handed the gift to Ron. “I have one for Hermione too but open yours first.”

“Feels awfully like a book. Are you sure this is not for Hermione?” Ron said as he hefted the package. Hermione glared at him. “Not that there is anything wrong with books.” Ron ripped open the paper and his lips formed into a smirk at the title of the hefty tome. “ _‘A Chess Master’s Guide to Occlumency’_ … brilliant. This is the best book I have ever seen.” He opened to the index. “Wow… it’s got personal accounts from like a dozen Grand Masters. Is this occlumency thing really that good that it can make people into grand masters?” He looked at Hermione with his question.

“I… I don’t know,” Hermione said finding it hard to form those words. “I’ve never heard of occlumency. It’s not on any of the Hogwarts curriculum.”

“It used to be,” Holly said. “Most of the great wizards and witches in academic history used the magic to protect their minds from enemy mind mages that would try to steal their secrets before they published their work. Although that was the primary reason it was taught, the other benefits were so great it became standard for all students to learn. It fell out of practice with the establishment of the Board of Governors who standardised all of Hogwarts’s curriculum in the mid-1800’s.” It was both Ron and Hermione who looked at Holly in surprise as she recited this. “When I learned how damn useful it was, I asked Albus why it was not the first thing we learned here. He implied his own frustrations with the Board.”

“But Hogwarts: A History doesn’t talk about that at all,” Hermione said. “It has nothing but good things to say about the Governors. How they protect students and ensure education here is delivered at the highest standard in all of magical Britain.”

“Hogwarts is the only magical school operating in Britain, so they don’t exactly have much competition,” Holly said with a shrug. “I recommend you check the first few pages of that book Hermione. I think you will find that there’s a little sentence that goes along the lines of ‘researched and written with the permission of the Hogwarts Board of Governors’. They had final say over what Bathilda Bagshot could publish.”

“But… that’s wrong,” Hermione said, the familiar sound of outrage in her voice. “They can’t do that. That’s picking and choosing what parts of history they tell.”

“They shouldn’t but they did, and they do stuff like that all the time,” Holly said shaking her head. “Regardless there is not much we can do to change it. Do you want your Christmas present?” Ron looked thankful for the sudden shift in topic as Hermione gave a little nod. “Apologies if he’s a little cranky but he was napping in the box anyway before I brought him down here.” She slid out the larger box that had very clear air holes.

Hermione gasped as she rushed forward and pulled open the box. “Oh my god,” she squealed as she reached in and pulled out a dopey looking Crookshanks. “He’s so handsome.”

“I was going to get an owl for you but he had been there for so long and he’s half-Kneazle, so I thought you might appreciate that more” Holly explained with a smile. “I did not know what your parents would think about you having a pet so if need be I can take care of him in the summer for you.”

“I love him already,” Hermione gushed as Ron looked like he was about to be sick. “I’ll write to them and ask. Can I borrow Hedwig?”

“Sure,” Holly said with a smile. “As long as I can borrow Crookshanks for cuddles.”

“Crookshanks… what a good name.”

Hermione was engrossed with her new familiar, petting Crookshanks and learning all the places that made him purr loudly. Holly smiled to herself as she glanced over at Ron. He did not look as pleased. “Bloody hell Holly… you got Hermione a half-Kneazle familiar?” Ron said his eyes wide. Holly had a sinking feeling about this. “And this book…” He gestured with it. “… with all these Grand Masters contributing to it, that must have cost a lot. And I didn’t even get you anything for Christmas.”

Ahhh there it was. Not anger or jealousy over Hermione’s gift but embarrassment that Holly could afford these things. That was a hard flaw of Ron’s to break. Holly felt the best approach would be brutal honesty. “No but your mother sent me most of my presents after you told me about her,” Holly said. “And Hermione got me a present. None of those presents I was expecting because… well I’ve never gotten proper Christmas presents before.” The hard part about using her occlumency to recall memories from the original timeline to help mimic her younger state of mind was that they came with so many emotions attached to them.

“I… didn’t know that,” Ron said with a bashful look. “I just thought you were not expecting to celebrate Christmas here when you were so surprised to get presents. Did the muggles not celebrate it or something?”

“They did… just not with me,” Holly said, swallowing the lump forming in her throat. This was Ron and Hermione. No matter the timeline or any other nonsense. They were her friends. She could share this with them. “They sent me a fifty-pence piece and that’s probably the best present they have ever given me… at least it was not dog biscuits again.”

“Oh Holly,” Hermione exclaimed and wrapped her into another hug before Crookshanks hissed between them and she quickly separated. “… did they neglect you in other ways? Holly did they ever hurt you?”

“Yes and yes,” Holly said waving her hand dismissively. “But don’t worry about it. I already dealt with that. I will not be returning to them and the matter is being handled by the DMLE. I hope both of you will keep my secret… please?” Holly actually felt a wave of fear hit her. As much as she trusted Ron and Hermione there was this irrational fear of her secrets getting out, especially this one. Overall it mattered little for her end goal of defeating Voldemort but to Holly personally it mattered a whole lot more then most of her other secrets. The last thing she wanted was an issue of the Daily Prophet talking about ‘the Girl-Who-Was-Abused’.

Both of her friends nodded. “You don’t even need to ask Holly,” Ron said his flushed face turning a deeper red as rage overtook him. “Those bloody muggles deserve what they get. I hope they throw the lot of them in Azkaban.” Surprisingly Hermione hummed in agreement. “I’m sorry they did that to you Holly.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a sigh. “It’s over now.” Hermione looked ready to argue that it was not okay but let it slide at a look from Ron. “Look at the bright side. I don’t have to deal with them anymore and while they treated me like their own personal house elf, I now have more money than they could imagine thanks to what my parents left me. Thinking of that and the looks on their faces if they ever found out makes it a hell of a lot easier.”

Ron actually smiled encouragingly at the mention of Holly’s wealth. What had once been a sore spot for him was now seen as a tool for Holly to cope with the past abuse she had suffered. He was all for that. “I’m glad that makes you feel better,” Hermione said delicately. “But from what Ron said before… don’t go wasting all the money your parents left you on us. I only got you a box of chocolate frogs for Christmas…”

“Hermione, Ron,” Holly said getting their attention. “I have more then enough money. That’s a drop in the ocean compared to what my family left behind for me. Look.” She willed her Potter Family Heiress ring back onto her finger. It emerged out from her skin. “This is my family ring. The Potter Family has always been wealthy, but all that money and investments has been sitting there accumulating wealth for ten years. I’m easily in the one percent so let me buy you both nice things. It’s not like I bought you crazy expensive presents, they are a little upper market, nothing too out there.” Hermione seemed to agree with this logic but that hint of jealousy returned to Ron’s face. “And I would trade it all away just to have my parents. So, let me spoil my best friends a little from time to time.”

“That’s fine with me,” Ron said with a shrug. He tried to play it off, but the jealousy was merely buried for now.

The strategy of coming up with a counter point every time her friends showed a bad trait was tiring to say the least. Ron was the main offender right now, but Hermione was not far behind. Holly sighed internally and reminded herself they were only eleven, they were kids, they were not nearly as mature as they thought they were, even Hermione had her gaping flaws at this age. She was bossy, obsessed with knowing more than anyone else, thought of grades above all and was terrified of losing the only friends she had. Ron, meanwhile, was jealous of Holly, always had been and it only got worse as time went on, was ashamed of the low-income family he came from and wanted so badly to stand out among seven other Weasley children. Even his younger sister got more attention simply on the merit she was the only daughter.

“As long as you don’t spoil us too much Holly and be careful with your money, I think we can accept a Birthday and Christmas present,” Hermione said with a curious look upon the ring on Holly’s finger.

Before she could ask a billion questions Holly beat her to the chase. “On the condition I am able to gift you the occasional random gift or shout you two every so often.”

“Deal but you can expect my mother to be sending you gifts every year,” Ron said with a grin. “I think she’s already taken a liking to you after seeing you all alone on the platform.”

“That’s okay with me,” Holly said. “Anyway, how was the rest of your winter break Hermione?”

“Really good,” Hermione said excitedly as she rubbed her hands together. “My parents wanted to hear all about you two and the school year so far. I was disappointed I could not show them any magic out of school but I brewed some potions for them and we went to Diagon Alley where I… oh my goodness. I forgot to tell you. I was waiting to be with both of you before I told you but with all your own stuff going on it almost completely slipped my mind.” Both Ron and Holly looked confused at their friend. “I can’t believe I almost forgot it completely.”

“Spit it out Hermione,” Ron said with a shrug.

“I know who Nicolas Flamel is!”

Holly felt her breath catch in her throat. Another change to the timeline? How the hell had this happened? She felt once more that things were on the edge of spiralling out of control. She had not even thought of what was going to happen regarding the Philosopher’s Stone this year. Holly had been so focused on other events that she had put it to the side. Even now as Hermione dug through her book bag, she worried what to do about that. Her friends were already fast on the trail to the Stone and little did they know they were dancing with danger. If they stood in front of Quirrelmort getting the Stone… the man would not hesitate to kill either of them.

“Here,” Hermione said pulling out a book, just like the old timeline. Only this one was different to the other Holly had seen back then. It was thinner and titled ‘The 12 Uses of Dragon’s Blood’. “When I heard of Holly’s apprenticeship to the Headmaster from gossip in Diagon Alley, I wanted to look him up. I can’t believe I had not researched the most prolific wizard of our age. I dropped into Flourish and Blotts and they have quite the collection on him, but it was this book in particular that caught my eye.” She held it out to them.

Ron frowned while Holly had a strange look on her face that was neither confusion nor realisation. Hermione struggled to read the expression, it seemed like the girl was in another world entirely. Was it shock or fear in her eyes? “What exactly are we looking at Hermione?” Ron asked drawing the witch’s attention back to the red headed boy. “What has dragon’s blood got to do with any of this?”

“Read the authors Ron,” Hermione said rolling her eyes as she pointed at the small text under the title. “I mean honestly…”

“Albus Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel…” Ron read his eyes widening as something else clicked in his brain. “Holly!” He turned to the witch and saw her eyes had a glazed over look in them. “Holly…” He shook her by the shoulders.

“Huh? What?” Holly said coming out of her stupor.

“Nicolas Flamel and the 12 Uses of Dragon Blood,” Ron said an excited look on his face. “Remember it from Dumbledore’s chocolate frog card? You got that one on the train. I only remembered it now, but you told us you remembered reading that name somewhere. You were onto it, but Hermione got there first. We know who Nicolas Flamel is.”

“More then that Ron,” Hermione said as she pulled out an even larger textbook that looked as heavy as a brick. “I think I know what is being guarded behind the trapdoor. I picked this up for some light reading from the library ages ago.” Ron scoffed at Hermione’s definition of light reading but she was too excited to stop and huff at him. “Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone!”

“The what?” Ron said but Holly remained silent.

Everything was happening to fast. Hermione shoved a book in Ron’s face as Holly pretended to look it over. These events were a strange parallel to the ones that had occurred in the other timeline. Only they were early. It was over a whole month till they had originally figured out what Quirrelmort was after. This was all happening because of one little change they had made. Holly’s apprenticeship with Dumbledore. Of course, Hermione would go down this rabbit hole, she would have dived into Dumbledore’s history and who could miss one of the most famous things he had ever done?

“… why Snape wants the Stone,” Ron said and got a nod from Hermione. “Gold and immortality. Who would not want that?”

“Precisely,” Hermione said. Oh, and they still thought Snape was after the Stone. That at least gave Holly a moment of relief. They would not be directly confronting the man with Voldemort on the back of his head any time soon. “Is something wrong Holly?” She blinked and looked at Hermione. “It’s just… you look rather out of it and you’re not excited that I figured it out.”

The bushy-haired witch looked rather disappointed at Holly. She seemed down that her friend was not sharing in her own excitement. Holly swallowed. What was her play here? She was rubbish at coming up with lies on the fly, Tonks had told her that to her face. Yet, she could not let them pursue this, it was far too dangerous. Hermione and Ron were… they were… they were only eleven. They were kids. They were her best friends and originally Holly would never have dreamed of stopping them but that was before. Things were different now. Underneath her own eleven-year-old body was the brain of an adult and the maturity of one to go along with it. She could not let them go any further with this.

“I already knew,” Holly said. In the end she decided to go with the truth. Well as much of the truth as she could get away with and a few small lies to explain things she knew. “Albus told me when I asked.”

“But Holly…” Hermione said looking downcast. “If you knew about this… why didn’t you tell us?”

“Yeah what’s with that?” Ron said looking angry. “I was here the whole time. You could have told me.”

“Because I think we should stay out of this,” Holly blurted out and got surprised looks from both of them. “Albus has assured me the Stone is safe. He knows about Snape’s intentions and will deal with it. He told me that the Stone is perfectly safe where it is. And if he is satisfied by that, so am I.” This seemed to pacify Hermione, but Ron still looked concerned.

“But what if he’s wrong?” Ron said. Holly had not been expecting him to say that. Everyone, especially those from families like Ron’s, believed Dumbledore to be infallible. Holly had the suspicion he was saying this just to keep the investigation going. This must be a grand adventure for the eleven-year-old Ron. He had no idea of the deadly consequences it could have. “Everyone can make mistakes, even him.” Hermione looked shocked and appalled by Ron’s declaration that the ‘most prolific wizard of our age’ could make mistakes. “What if he has made a mistake and Snape gets the Stone?”

The flinches from that cursed word must have shown for both of them looked concerned at Holly. “He can make mistakes…” Hermione said. She seemed to be trying to read Holly’s face for information. “… can’t he?”

“Yes he can, like anyone else,” Holly answered knowing it was already written all over her expression. “But the defences upon the stone are too great to bypass. Each one was made by a different teacher. Only they and Dumbledore know how to get past them all.”

“You know what they are, don’t you?” Ron asked his eyes widening. “You know everything.”

“Yes,” Holly admitted and sucked in air through her teeth. This was spiralling out of control already. Goddamn her inability to lie on the fly. “… but I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Hermione asked. “We’re not after the Stone. We just want to make sure it’s safe. Listen, if the defences are that great then we’ll drop this whole thing but we need to know or we’ll just keep investigating. We have already figured out this much.”

“Yeah mate,” Ron said with a nod. “You can tell us.”

“… Snape’s a Legilimens,” Holly said. She always did well thinking on her feet as long as she did not have to lie. It was not Snape she was worried about reading their minds, rather it was the real threat, bloody Quirrelmort. “He can read minds. Dumbledore only told me because he knows I have a firm grasp on occlumency that protects from that ability.” She could read the worried looks upon both her friend’s faces. “Don’t worry. Most of the other teachers are Master Occlumens as it is or have their own natural protections.”

“So, if we master occlumency will you tell us?” Hermione asked. She was now even more interested in Ron’s new book.

“Sure, though that will take a while, but till then you need to drop this,” Holly said giving them both a firm look. “I can’t tell you the defences guarding the Stone but I promise you that they are sufficient at keeping anyone out who wants to use it for their own gain.” Holly’s careful wording of that true statement went unnoticed by her friends. She was confident in one protection above all, one she knew not even Quirrelmort could overcome. The mirror held the stone safely.

“Wait a moment… I know a way you can tell us,” Ron said and both Hermione and Holly gave him sceptical looks. “If we make an unbreakable vow not to reveal the information it cannot be drawn out of us through any magic.” Holly’s eyes widened as Hermione frowned over what an unbreakable vow was. At their look Ron explained. “My Dad told me about them when Fred and George almost tricked me into making one. They are seriously powerful and dangerous but they can guard secrets.”

“Like a magical binding contract?” Hermione asked and got a nod in return. “I read that those can have major consequences if you break them. What happens if you break this vow?”

“You die,” Holly said feeling shaken. “If you break the vow you die. We shouldn’t do this…”

“It’s super hard to break,” Ron injected. “Dad said you physically and mentally have to fight it and no amount of magical persuasion, trickery or even torture can make you want to break the vow. Even truth serum or other magical information gathering techniques fail to work on you.” At Hermione’s look of shock, he explained further. “Dad made sure I knew everything about this after he tore the twins a new one. We can use this to find out what the defences are and keep them hidden from Snape.”

“No way,” Holly said. “I’m not doing that to either of you. One mistake and you could die.”

“Holly,” Hermione said. “Do you really think we’ll stop without knowing? We’ve come this far. We need to know that the Stone is safe. At least if we do this our minds will be at ease and we can move on. We’ll even make the vow so we won’t pursue this further if we are satisfied by the defences. How does that sound?”

“Come on mate,” Ron said. “You can put in a thing to release us from the vow after the Stone is not being guarded anymore or something.”

“Fine,” Holly said and felt like she was about to be sick. She could not believe what she was about to do but if it kept them from doing something stupid and facing off against Quirrelmort… than she would do it. “One at a time, Hermione give me your hand, Ron pull out your wand and be witness.”

Holly took Hermione’s hand as Ron pulled out his wand and placed it upon where their hands joined. Hermione placed Crookshanks down upon the desk. “What do I have to do?” Ron asked with a frown. “George… or was it Fred? One of them just held Mum’s wand like this as the other asked me questions.”

“Just hold it there, all you have to do is watch,” Holly said. She had learned about unbreakable vows from Snape of all people when the question had come up about it while in Azkaban. Ron was right, it was hard to break and there was no way Snape could have weaselled out of his back before he died. But Holly knew how to word it so she could let Ron and Hermione have some ways out. “Hermione you just have to say either ‘I will’ or ‘I won’t’ after each question I ask you. If at any time you want to back out of this then just let go of my hand or say ‘I won’t’. That will cancel out all parts of the vow but once we finish this you will be bound by what you agreed to. Do you really want to go through with this?”

“Yes,” Hermione said, her eyes lighting up with determination. Holly really wished that she had of backed out. “I trust you.”

“Will you, Hermione, guard the secret of the defences of the Philosopher’s Stone here at Hogwarts till the Stone leaves the castle or I release you from this vow?”

“I will.” A blazing ring of light from Ron’s wand surrounded their clasped hands.

“And will you not purposely pursue your thread of investigation into the Stone without my permission if the defences prove sufficient to you?”

“I will.” A second ring appeared.

“And, should the stone come under threat and you trust in the defences in place will you not try to go after it yourself or with anyone else without my approval as long as it is here behind those defences?”

Hermione frowned, that had not been something they had talked about before. But she figured it did not hurt to agree to this. “I will.” A third ring appeared and it weaved together with the others, forming into a solid binding.

“So mote it be,” Holly said and the vow was formed. She let go of Hermione’s hand as the energy dispersed. “Wand out Hermione. It’s Ron’s turn.”

They repeated the process with Ron using the same vows.

“Okay,” Holly said as she mentally prepared herself to tell her two friends. Both of them were looking at her eagerly. “Most of the defences can be overcome in one way or another but it is the last one that is…”

The sound of a screeching cat cut off Holly. In an instant Holly had her wand out and was stalking over towards a corner where Crookshanks was hissing at something. “What is it Crookshanks?” Holly asked and it was then that she noticed a small mousehole in the corner of the room.

“Probably just a rat or something,” Hermione said with a shrug as she bent down and picked up Crookshanks. “It’s okay boy. Come here.” She petted the cat as she carried him away.

“A rat is what I am afraid of…” Holly murmured lowly as she furrowed her brow. Standing in the corner she pulled out the Marauder’s Map. Hiding it from Ron and Hermione she pointed her wand down at it and whispered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” The map came to life and Holly scanned over it. With all the other students back in the castle the map was a lot harder to search. She looked around her immediate area and saw no one besides herself, Ron and Hermione on the map. But that did not mean Wormtail was not nearby. After all, it was not like all the little rat sized passages were marked on the map. She breathed a sigh of relief as she spied the name tag ‘Peter Pettigrew’ in Ron’s dorm room.

“Holly?” Ron called. “You coming back to tell us or what?”

“Mischief managed,” she whispered and put the map away. “Yeah…” Holly spared one last look at the mousehole, it probably was just a normal rat or some other rodent. As smart as Crookshanks was he was still just a cat. But just to be sure… “ _Muffliato_.” She lowered her wand from the mousehole. Now with the charm on the door and that small opening there was no chance of being overheard unless they were in the room with them… or had extendable ears. But those were not invented yet and the map made sure no one else was in the room. Holly turned back and walked over to her friends. “… sorry about that.”

“No worries Holly,” Ron said with a shrug. “It was the damn cat’s fault anyway. We’re all a bit jumpy considering what we are discussing.”

Hermione scowled at Ron as she petted her new familiar but nodded her head. “We understand the secrecy, but can you please just tell us now?” She asked. “You mentioned something about the final defence?”

“Yes,” Holly said with a firm nod. “The final defence is the Mirror of Erised. An artefact that shows you your deepest desire.” Ron’s eyes lit up at this and strangely there was a look of recognition in Hermione’s eyes too. “Ron and I…”

“Found it over Christmas break?” Hermione said. “Ron told me before we met up with you.”

“Right so what I did not tell Ron yet,” Holly said. “Was that I returned to the mirror after I showed it to him. On the last night I was there Dumbledore showed up. He was in the process of finishing the last bit of an ingenious charm upon the mirror that is tied into the very enchantment of the magical object. He has placed the Stone within the mirror and only the person that desires the Stone, not for their own use, not to use it or profit from it or give it to anyone else will be able to receive it. Any other attempt to gain it will fail and could well break the mirror, losing the Stone forever.”

“Wow… a charm that powerful,” Hermione said her eyes widening. “That must take some amazing charm work.”

“The mirror is stronger than it seems,” Holly said. “It’s a very powerful artefact and the charm is tied directly into its glyph sequence.” Holly had studied the mirror for a long time before she placed the Elder Wand within it during the old timeline. Not only had Dumbledore perfectly crafted the charm but he had tied it into the mirror which in itself was tied into the Hogwarts wards that were powered by multiple ley lines connecting here. Even removing the mirror or destroying the wards would not sever the connection tot eh ley lines, the mirror had been here for so long it was almost a part of them. It was the perfect artefact to safeguard an item like the Stone or the Elder Wand. It helped that the charm itself had been cast by the Elder Wand with the full power of a wizard who was said to be the most powerful since Merlin himself.

“I knew that mirror was weird,” Ron said with a nod. “Are you sure it can’t be tricked?”

“Not by someone that wants the Stone for their own gain,” Holly said shaking her head. “I actually think the other defences are just there to ward off students and scare them away or at least slow them down till Albus can catch up with them. He probably has some detection spells or something up there too.”

“That makes sense,” Hermione said with a nod. “Well if the Headmaster cast the spell and is that confident in it… I am satisfied.”

“Yeah I know what I said before about making mistakes but come one, it’s Albus Dumbledore,” Ron said with a shrug. “Even I know that he’s the greatest wizard since… well ever. Snape won’t know what hit him if he goes after the stone.”

“I’m glad,” Holly said with a sigh. This whole conversation had been one big mess, but she had gotten done what she needed and managed to derail her friends from the hunt for the Philosopher’s Stone. She hoped that would be enough to keep them safe. “I’m starved, you two want to head down for the feast?” They both readily agreed and left with Holly.

None of the three ever heard or saw the disillusioned snake that slithered back into the mousehole it had come from. The serpent, like all non-humanoids, was immune to the muffliato charm, so it had heard all that was spoken within the room. In addition to being enchanted to blend in with its surrounding the snake had been silenced so the only thing that could have given it away was its scent. That damn cat had picked it up, luckily the mousehole that led to the many vermin sized passages through Hogwarts had provided it the shelter it needed. Now these passages would allow it to travel the castle unseen and report back to its master on what it had heard.

*

The first day of classes came back to Holly with strange clarity. Her occlumency skills were getting better and better. Already she could recall the lessons with stunning accuracy. One of the first classes back was transfiguration. Holly made sure to be there bright and early, surprising both Ron and Hermione as she dragged them through passages that cut their usual time from the Great Hall to the classroom in half. Holly had answered their questions of how she had learned of them with claims to have spent a lot of time exploring over the Winter Break.

Professor McGonagall started the class with reviewing theory from the lessons before Christmas. Holly tried hard not to look too board through it as she paged through a book Albus had given her to read. It covered elemental magic. It was high level theory, but the explanations made sense if you paid attention to the whole thing from cover to cover. Basically, elemental magic was a raw form of magic that did not rely on channelling it through your body, rather it pulled the power directly from your core using the element you had an affiliation with as a conduit. It could be paired with a wand to give interesting effects and a bit of oomph behind it but the best part of it was that the magic could be cast wandlessly and soundlessly from the get-go.

According to the book each and every mage had an affiliation for one element; the common ones being earth, air, water and fire but there were plenty of recordings of uncommon elements. Notes in the margin told Holly that Albus’ own elemental affiliation was water, the same as his mother’s, while her father’s had been air. Holly wondered if she would inherit one of their elements. The book itself did state that your element might well be related to your parentage, the environment you lived in or any other manor of factors. Holly was already daydreaming of what her element would be when she noticed all eyes in the room were on her, including Professor McGonagall’s.

“Sorry did I miss something?” Holly asked. Hermione had her hand raised and an eager look on her face.

“I said,” Professor McGonagall said sharply. “That since Miss Potter seems to have time to study other textbooks in my class then why do you not prove your clear understanding of the subject and name for me the four main branches of transfiguration?”

“Transformation, Untransfiguration, Vanishment, and Conjuration,” Holly rattled off. Hermione look surprised and Ron looked like he had not understood half that list. For the millionth time Holly thanked her occlumency. Perfect recall was the most useful ability ever. She had a whole seven years’ worth of Hermione lectures of all things magic sorted in her head.

“Four points for Gryffindor for each named branch,” Professor McGonagall said her lips thin but a slight wavering to her voice. “In future Miss Potter please wait till after the lecture and practical work before moving on with your other studies, even if you have clearly been keeping up with your revision. Now moving onto the practical aspect of today’s lessons. We will be revisiting…”

They once more found themselves turning matchsticks into needles. Most of the class groaned and rolled their eyes at this. Even as only first years this was simple stuff. Despite that it was only Holly, Hermione and surprisingly Neville that got it right on the first try. For Neville it was the first time ever getting it right and he almost fell of his chair in shock. “Good work Neville,” Holly said patting the boy on the back. He turned around and beamed at her, holding up the needle for her to see.

“I did it,” Neville said. “I actually did it.”

“You can do anything you put your mind to Neville,” Holly said with a smile. “You just need some confidence…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “… and the right wand helps.” He blushed but nodded his head and turned back around as McGonagall came by.

The Professor was going around awarding a point for everyone that was capable of performing the spell and correcting those that needed a reminder. She stopped at Hermione and Holly, giving both of them a nod. “Two points each for getting it right the first time around,” Professor McGonagall said. “This demonstrates that revision is key to your magical education.”

Or occlumency, Holly added in her head. Hermione looked like Christmas had come again at the Professor’s praise. She quickly turned to her side to try and help Ron with the spell. “Excuse me Professor,” Holly said. “But you missed Neville getting the spell right on his first try too.” Other students nodded their heads in agreement.

“I apologise Mister Longbottom,” Professor McGonagall said looking mildly embarrassed. In truth she had skipped over the boy, not wanting to cause him further embarrassment by singling him out as one of the few people to never get this spell down. She noted his new wand and breathed a sigh of relief that he was not still using Frank’s. That wand had always seemed to resent transfiguration, even in the hands of its original owner. She also noticed that his transformation of the matchstick was near perfect, the only one who had done it better was Holly and McGonagall put that down to her lessons with Albus. Even Miss Granger was slightly off when it came to the weight of the needle. “Five points for one of the best transformations I have seen in years and for mastering the spell Mister Longbottom.”

Neville almost fainted from the praise while Holly could not help hearing Hermione huff. The one thing Holly regretted about coming back in time it was being surrounded by children and their insecurities. Alas Holly would not trade her chance at this for the world and she knew that the day would come when Hermione’s maturity would catch up with Holly. As for Ron… well there was always hope. She laughed inwardly to herself as she practiced the transformation spell a couple more times. Once she had a nice shiny row of needles, she turned her attention back to her book.

Half an hour later the bell rang and Holly was quick to pack up and join her friends headed out. As they left McGonagall began to collect the needles. Most of them had long since turned back into matchsticks. The only ones that remained needles were those upon Mister Longbottom’s and Miss Potter’s desks. She waited a couple minutes and was rewarded with Longbottom’s needles turning back to matchsticks. Miss Potter’s remained unchanged. She could well undo the transformation herself. End it now. But Professor McGonagall was curious. Miss Potter had done these multiple transformations with ease and with no sign of fatigue.

Such a feat was not unusual for a first year. McGonagall herself had been easily capable of this before her first Christmas in the castle, Miss Potter’s father, James, would have been too and she had only heard rumours of just the things Albus could do at the tender age of eleven. It was how long they would stay needles that McGonagall was interested in. She put them aside in the little glass jar. The jar would sit upon her desk till well after lunch when she would glance at it to see that the matchsticks had returned, finally, to their original form. Professor McGonagall frowned, the longer a wizard or witch could keep an object transformed was a direct sign of the magical power they had put into the transformation. For a student to keep multiple matchsticks transformed this long… well she would have expected them to be at least as powerful as a second year.

*

“Today class we will be learning something new,” Professor Flitwick said much to the excitement of the first-year students who were tired already of reviewing stuff from before the winter break. “A simple but useful spell, especially for these darker winter months, the wand lighting spell. The incantation is Lumos, pronounced LOO-mos, and the wand movement is a single counter clockwise loop. Just like we have practiced with other wand movements. Remember to make a nice big loop, with time and practice you will be able to do smaller and quicker loops.” From atop his stack of books the small man demonstrated. “ _Lumos_.” A bright light filled the room. “The counterspell is _Nox.”_ He flicked his wand and the light disappeared. “But do not worry about that for now. Your own lights should last no longer then a few minutes. Well what are you waiting for? Get to it.”

Holly grinned. She had always enjoyed charms class. Professor Flitwick demanded respect, despite his smaller stature, but was neither fear inducing like Snape nor as strict and unwavering as McGonagall. Holly supposed they each represented their classes they taught. Transfiguration was about being unyielding and forcing an object to change, appear or have the property you desired. Potions was as dangerous as Snape made it out to be, a wrong move could result in more then just a visit to the hospital wing. Charms, on the other hand, was fun. It was a place of creativity and experimentation. You could twist and bend the rules without a major fear of danger, unlike the other two subjects. It was as free as flying to Holly.

Many people got this spell in one or two tries. Ron and Hermione both produced sizable lights while Neville had to apologise for almost blinding Hannah Abbot who stood across from him. Her friend, Susan Bones, was giggling to her about something while pointing at Neville. The boy himself was blushing as red as a tomato. Holly chuckled inwardly and wondered idly if Hannah and Neville would make a go of it in this timeline as well. She vowed to herself to ensure they got that chance.

“Miss Potter?” Professor Flitwick asked as he walked down the row of students with lit wands. “Care to have a go?”

“Of course,” Holly said and raised her wand. She went to perform a simple loop only as she finished the wand movement, she had a gut feeling that told her to add in a half twirl extra. “ _Lumos_.” The light that came from her wand was almost as blinding as that of a patronus but the direction of the light itself was different to the rest. It seemed to channel the light forward into one narrow but powerful beam. It was like Holly held a very powerful search light in her hand. She frowned and focused for a moment before repeating the twirl in the opposite direction. The light switched back to the normal version and it was like she had a small sun on the end of her wand.

“Outstanding Miss Potter,” Professor Flitwick cried, shielding his eyes from the light. “Ten points for Gryffindor for both an amazing demonstration of raw power and clever experimentation with the spell. Though perhaps you could attempt the counter spell before you blind someone?”

“ _Nox_ ,” Holly said with a flick of the wrist. She blinked and could still see the after image of the blinding light even with her eyes closed. Many of the other students were wiping or blinking their own eyes around her.

“It looks like everyone has that spell down,” Professor Flitwick said clapping his hands together. “If you can all please practice the counter spell before next class and provide six inches of parchment about the possible uses of the wand lighting charm, except you Miss Potter. You seem to have master both spells and made an improvement of your own. I would like you instead to note down the change to the standard wand movement you made and experiment further with it. Take note of your findings and show them to me after next class. There will be some extra credit in it for you. Now let us return to our review.”

Everyone let out a collective groan except for Hermione who was fuming at Holly. For once Ron was looking like the cool headed one, though he seemed just as annoyed at having to put away their wands and open their textbooks as the rest of the class. Holly sighed to herself. She understood her friends’ insecurities well enough. Ron’s was about money and Hermione’s was about being smart.

It made sense for both of them because on one hand it was something Ron did not have and was made to feel ashamed of. On the other it was the only thing Hermione thought she had, and she feared losing her one thing that made her special or important. And if Hermione lost that, she thought she would be of no use to Holly or Ron and therefore lose the only friends she had. Holly knew both her friends well enough to read this and know it was not the case. But all she could do was buckle up and weather whatever storm would come from this.

Holly concentrated on her work and kept her head down. She blitzed through Flitwick’s review quizzes and skimmed the chapters in the textbooks. All of it was very basic and stuff she could do with her eyes closed. Soon she was back onto her book about elemental magic. A subject she was finding far more interesting simply because it was new work. Occasionally Flitwick would call upon someone to perform a charm they had learned already, or in Hermione’s case one she knew but had not been taught in class. Holly raised an eyebrow as he asked her to perform the unlocking charm on a padlock he produced.

Sure, enough Hermione performed it perfectly and he smiled at her. He moved onto Ron, having him do the levitation charm, which by now the redhead was a master of. When he called on Holly, he asked her to cast another spell they had not learned in class, the tickling spell. Holly frowned as she reached for her wand, only to pause. There was that same gut feeling, that little piece of intuition that had called on her before to do something extra. This time it told her, not in words but rather feelings, to not use her own wand but rather…

“ _Rictusempra_ ,” Holly said. A split second before she had finished the incantation, she saw Flitwick’s eyes widen in surprise at the wand she was waving, before the little man burst out laughing. Holly felt that spell. It was a second-year spell and she could feel her channels seizing up, especially after this morning in transfiguration. She was not at the point of magical exhaustion yet but was nearing that line.

“Very good… Miss Potter,” Professor Flitwick gasped out as the last of the tickling charm wore off on him. “I see you have been practicing over the Winter Break.” At that moment the bell rang. “Don’t forget to do your assignments. Detention for those who do not have at least six inches on the possible applications of the lumos spell.” Students hurried to pack up their things and leave. “If you could stay behind a moment please Miss Potter.”

Holly gave her friends a smile as they filed out with the rest of the class before turning to the small Professor who was sanding on a chair eye level with her. “Is something wrong Professor?” Holly asked as she nervously fiddled with her mother’s wand.

“Not wrong Miss Potter… it’s just…” he said his gaze falling to the wand in her hand. “That wand…”

“It’s my mothers,” Holly said and saw the Professor stiffen. “Albus thought it would be a good idea for me to have a backup.”

“Always good to have a spare wand or two, especially when you are in a spot of trouble,” Professor Flitwick said with a wink. “It makes it rather tricky for an opponent to keep you disarmed. What I wanted to ask you about was your use of the wand in today’s class. Most people that use a wand not belonging to them find they have to fight the wand to get it to perform even half as well as it should. Yet, you hit me with quite the powerful tickling spell and seem to be fine afterwards.”

“I got close to feeling some magical exhaustion but I’m fine,” Holly explained. “I know a little about wandlore myself. Studied some on Albus’ insistence. I know the wand should not be a good fit for me, it should fight me every step of the way and normally when I use it, it does but today in this class… I think it helped me. I think it wanted to be used.”

“Fascinating,” Professor Flitwick squeaked, his inner Ravenclaw coming out. “Your mother was always very talented with charms. My best student. I offered her an apprenticeship, but she passed, wanted to start a family before doing her masters in charms, used to joke that teaching was for the old and she would get around to it when she stopped being young. I am sad she never got to pursue that.” He shared a look with Holly before clearing his throat. “I would advise not neglecting your own wand when it comes to charms, but I think you should experiment with this and see how it turns out.”

“It’s strange Professor,” Holly said eyeing the wand. “I have cast charms with it before and it puts up a fight then. Something about being in this class with you and learning these spells… I don’t know. Maybe it remembers?”

“Perhaps,” Professor Flitwick said with a shrug. “My knowledge of wandlore is limited but it is an interesting study all the same. You better get on your way Miss Potter.”

“Thank-you Professor,” Holly said and excused herself.

Filius waited till Miss Potter had left before he exited the classroom into his office. In here at least the furniture was at an appropriate size for him. He pulled out his chair and sat down behind his desk. Placing his hands together he wondered on Miss Potter. What an interesting lesson this had been. Reaching down he opened a draw that remained closed but for three times a year (Halloween, Christmas and her birthday). From it he paged through parchment after parchment of neatly written homework, letters and charms notes before he came upon what he was after. Pulling out the long roll of parchment he glanced at the title.

_‘Lumos Radior – A Study of Adjustments to the Wand Lighting Charm by Lilly Evans’_ , it read. Flitwick pulled open a separate draw and out came a bottle of goblin ale. Last class of the day was over and there was no way he was making dinner as it was, so a drink would not go a miss. He did not bother with a glass and simply opened the bottle before taking a swig. Fresh tears would dot the parchment before sunset as he wondered just what his favourite student would think of her daughter following in her footsteps.

*

Astronomy, History of Magic and Herbology were about as dull as they had been the first time around. Holly spent most of History reading her books or practising spells quietly in the back while trying to avoid a fuming Hermione and ignore Ron’s attempts to whisper to her about Quidditch. Despite that she remembered Binns’ lecture word for word. At least something had not changed, as much as she wanted the ghostly Professor to be replaced by someone who actually noticed the students let alone their own death.

Astronomy was a similar case. Though Holly had to admit that Professor Sinistra knew her stuff. The night owl of a Professor was passionate about the stars and learning. She taught a surprising amount of maths in her class that Holly did pay attention to. Her occlumency allowed her to pick it up and work out most of it in her head and the skills seemed useful so she filed them away for later. Professor Sinistra noticed Holly paying more attention to her book throughout the class but she did not say anything till the end when they handed back a pop quiz she had given them. “Very good Miss Potter,” was all she said with a nod and any issue she had with Holly studying other subjects in class was squandered.

Herbology was a different kettle of fish altogether. All the knowledge on the subject in the world could not have made Holly a star pupil. She did alright but knew that she did not have the green thumb required for the subject. Gardening had always been something Holly despised. The Dursleys had made sure of that. She still remembered the hot summers spent weeding their front garden or pushing a mower through the frosty months. It seemed Holly was not the only one who had this problem. Hermione was firmly in the same boat as her. Neither of them could compete with Neville who had the definition of a green thumb and seemed to do well under a teacher like Professor Sprout with her kind encouragement and praise.

At least when it came to the more theoretical side of the subject Holly and Hermione could flourish though Neville always knew that little bit more than either of them. It was during one of the practical lessons that Hermione finally spoke up to Holly. “How come you can be the best at every other subject except this one?” she scoffed.

“I’m not the best at every subject,” Holly said shaking her head as they worked together to remove thorns from some magical flower that spilled glittering dust everywhere. “You’re far better at History of Magic and you know the maths in Astronomy before we are even taught it. My occlumency is what is making the real difference there, but I am sure once you master it that will change. Hell, I bet you top Transfiguration because I can tell you now being able to visualise a change perfectly in your mind helps a lot. How are you and Ron going with that book? I know you have been studying when I have been at my extra lessons with Albus.”

Hermione’s brow furrowed. “Ron is doing… surprisingly well,” she said her eyes turning towards the redhead in question who was laughing with Neville as they worked together on their own dethorning. “But I…” She could not meet Holly’s eyes. “… I’m… not.”

“It’s okay to admit you struggle with something Hermione,” Holly said and got a look in return that screamed it was not. “I struggle with many of the things Albus wants to teach me both physically and mentally. My core is strong, but he can still challenge me with long hours of spell casting or new spells that require some extra power. And his brain is… even without occlumency the man is like a living computer. He can work out things before I even find the problem. He reminds me of you actually.” Hermione gasped quietly at the comparison. “Only instead of a student he is a teacher, so he enjoys the learning of others as much as his own.”

“I like when others learn,” Hermione scoffed. “Truthfully I have been really impressed that you have stepped up your education. This apprenticeship has been really good for you.”

“Really? Because the glares you have been giving me in class really don’t convey that,” Holly said with a chuckle. “You look like Malfoy half the time.” Hermione almost choked at this comparison. “Jealousy and envy are not good looks on you Hermione.”

“I know,” she said in a tone that sounded like she wanted to rip out her own hair. “And I’m sorry okay? But it’s just so hard. I’m used to being…”

“The brightest witch in our grade?” Holly guessed and got a small, embarrassed nod in return. “That must be hard to give up. I know how competitive you can be academically. But think about it this way Hermione, I’m a data anomaly. My crazy powerful magic core and my mastery of occlumency in record time not to mention the private lessons from Albus have really separated me from the rest of our grade. To compare yourself to me would be illogical. I am an outlier, I’m too different from the rest of the grade to make fair comparisons.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Hermione murmured as logic won over her envy. “I just wish I could master occlumency too. I can already see Ron getting better at chess and doing his homework faster but for the life of me I can’t organise my mind. There’s just too much stuff.”

“Woah slow down there Hermione,” Holly said, as the bushy-haired girl almost nicked herself with the dull blade they were using to dethorn the flowers. “The book says to work on your foundations first before you get anywhere near sorting your mind. The foundations form the base of your mindscape and once that is filled out you can start sorting your mind and working on defences. You can’t just skip ahead. You’re clever enough to know this. You’re better than this.”

“I know,” Hermione sighed in frustration. “I just really want to catch up to you. I feel like I am falling behind and…” She let her words remain unspoken.

“Hermione I don’t think you can catch me in everything and if you tried you would probably end up having a mental breakdown,” Holly said and watched as Hermione became irritated. She swore to Merlin she was going to drag her friends into their future mature selves, kicking and screaming if she had to. “If you want to be top of something focus on transfiguration. You are great at that and occlumency will only help you along. It does not hurt to have a specialty. Albus knows most magics under the sun and he would be the first one to tell you that he is best at transfiguration not because he was talented in it over other magics but because he worked on it harder then others. I personally really enjoy charms and I won’t be surprised if that becomes my focused subject.”

Even Hermione had to relent and see wisdom in Holly’s words, they were tailored to appeal to her logical mind and dropping in the Albus Dumbledore example did not hamper the argument either. “You’re right Holly,” Hermione said. “I’ll think about what you said and try to be better. I’m sorry I have been treating you poorly this week. I was feeling envious and frankly quite useless compared to you.”

“Hermione you are still easily one of the brightest witches in our grade,” Holly said with a smile at the humility her friend could show. “Look at it this way too. If you focus on a subject, you might get offered an apprenticeship during or post seventh year. Have you thought about what you want to do after school? Because I wager you have a list and on there somewhere, I bet is to be a Professor. You need a master’s degree for that, and you only get that through an apprenticeship to an already established Master. How would a masters in transfiguration feel?”

Hermione’s eyes seemed to twinkle like a certain Headmaster as she pictured the scenario. Holly chuckled to herself. Maybe this would be easier than she thought.

“When did you get so smart?” Hermione asked with a sigh.

“When I pulled my head out of my own arse,” Holly said and got a smile in return. “Don’t worry, you’ll get there someday.”

“Prat,” Hermione scoffed as Holly laughed.

*

Defence Against the Dark Arts was one of two classes Holly had been dreading. She needed to be alert and attentive. Ready to defend her friends at the very hint that Quirrelmort was onto them. She recalled his classes perfectly from the first time around and he had played the part of the stuttering fool to a T. Hopefully that would continue. Sure enough the class opened like any other with him giving an agonizingly long lecture on vampires and other dark creatures. The stutter was an amazing performance. Holly was impressed how he managed to talk for half the lesson without letting up.

After this he should give them readings from the textbook and a review test. Instead he paused and asked them to get their wands out. Holly frowned. This was a divergence from the timeline. It could mean nothing… or it could mean everything. She was quick to bring out her wand, feeling much more confident with having it in hand, especially around Quirrelmort. His eyes roamed over the students as he had them stand up and ready their stances. He made small corrections, but Holly felt like he was looking around the room for something else. Did he know? His eyes settled on her and time seemed to pause for a moment as she met his eyes.

It felt like Holly was daring him to try and peer into her mind. Give her an excuse to defend herself from him. A failed mental attack could well do major damage to the man. He was in a vulnerable state with having to share a body and a mind. The mental assault never came as he moved onto helping Neville hold his wand. Holly wondered if that was because he did not want to risk being found out or he believed that Dumbledore would have guarded Holly’s mind. Unfortunately, she had not had occlumency skills at this time during the original timeline, so she had no way of knowing if he even had tried to read her mind back then.

“Now that w-w-we are all r- ready,” Professor Quirrell stuttered as he brought out his own wand. “T-t-today we will be l-learning t-t-the st-stinging j-j-jinx.” Holly fought not to roll her eyes at the stuttering. As impressive as the performance was, she wished he would just hurry up with it. “The w-wand movement is as f-f-follows.” He showed them the wand movement. “The in-in-incarnation is Aculeus. Do n-not c-c-con-confuse it with Morsus, the st-stinging hex, which is a much more p-p-powerful spell t-t-that share’s the same w-w-wand movement. S-S-So, Aculeus not Morsus.”

He had them practice form and pronunciation of the spell separately before they were allowed to put them together. Holly had to admit he was a great teacher. She wondered if that was Quirrell, Voldemort or a combination of the two. Did he instruct the Death Eaters like this? Was that why they were so well trained? She imagined that those who failed his lessons as Death Eaters got more then just a detention. Next he had them pair up and face each other across the classroom. Holly knew where this was going and made sure to grab Neville as a partner before someone else did. The boy did not need someone making fun of him in a class that covered a topic he was visibly nervous about.

One by one the pairs were instructed to draw their wands and try to jinx the other first. It was a test of not just the spell but their reaction times. Holly noticed that when it came to Ron and Hermione’s turn, he managed to get his wand out first but messed up the spell, causing nothing but sparks of light to come from his wand, before she calmly hit him in the chest. Her casting of the spell had been painfully slow to Holly but it was perfect wand movement and pronunciation. Hermione’s obsession with making sure she got it right through methodical casting of spells had probably been why she was only second best to Holly in Defence during the old timeline. No real opponent would let her get away with taking that long to cast the spell, especially not a Death Eater.

When it came to Holly’s turn to face off against Neville she knew she would not hold back. Something told her the more she tried to hide herself from Quirrelmort the more likely he was to see through her. Better to give away she was a semi-competent duellist then any more of her secrets. Besides it would not take Quirrell long to figure out she was holding back if he talked to the other teachers. As they were called on Holly pulled out her wand faster then anyone else had and levelled it at Neville. She got off the spell first but surprisingly Neville managed to send a stinging jinx of his own before he yelped in pain. Holly sidestepped without even thinking about it and kept her wand trained on Neville as he fumbled with his own.

“Im-Im-Impressive P-P-Potter,” Professor Quirrell stuttered as he made his way down towards Neville. “The st-st-stining jinx should not be under-underestimated. It can and w-will cause a n-n-novice duellists to m-m-mess up or even d-disarm them. The st-stinging hex will t-trip up even a m-master duellist if u-u-used correctly.” He helped Neville back to his feet and looked at the angry welt upon his wrist. “S-S-Similarly dodging a sp-spell is an often o-over looked st-st-strategy.” He waved his wand over Neville’s wrist and healed the welt. “T-Try to con-control your p-p-power p-p-please P-Potter.”

“I will try Sir,” Holly said with a gulp. “Sorry Neville. You alright?”

“No harm done Holly,” Neville said rubbing the healed welt on his hand. “Thank-you Professor.”

“R-Right, back to it,” Professor Quirrell said and moved on down the line.

They continued the lesson and Neville surprised Holly by dodging her next spell and firing one of his own. She let it hit her and grunted in pain at the decent stinging jinx she took to her shoulder. Neville seemed pleased by this and they continued to practice the spell. Holly could see what Professor Quirrell meant when he talked about the use of this spell in a duel. The pain was just enough to distract or make an opponent gasp out when they were in the middle of casting a spell. If you could interrupt them from casting anything you had a chance to get the upper hand. Having Neville as her opponent really gave Holly some incentive to control her power but by the end of it he still had a number of welts across his body.

“C-C-Collect your homework a-assignments and you m-may leave,” Professor Quirrell said as he started to hand out work sheets.

Holly got hers and followed Ron and Hermione out. She was musing over both the use of the stinging jinx and Quirrell’s change in lesson plan. The jinx was dead useful to her, especially at her current level of magic. It was low intensity and a spell many would find her perfectly capable of casting. The Professor’s change in behaviour was worrying but not unexpected. Many things were changing in the timeline. Whether there was reason behind this change he made or not mattered little right now. She had to concentrate on dealing with the Stone. Maybe a talk with Dumbledore was in order.

Holly was so quick to leave and caught up in her head that she did not notice Quirrell keeping one student behind. He smiled to himself as the Girl-Who-Lived left. She was, as his Master had feared, a protegee. No wonder the old man had taken her as an apprentice. Well if Dumbledore could have his first-year lackey so could Quirrell’s Master. Now all he needed to do was convince the boy to go after the Stone with him. He turned to Neville Longbottom with a wobbly smile. “I-I-I’m sure there’s a-another w-w-work sheet in my office Mister L-L-Longbottom,” he said. “J-Just wait r-r-right here.”

He ducked off into the office and returned with a sheet to find Neville still rubbing at the welts from the stinging jinx. “A-A-Are those still b-bothering you?” Professor Quirrell asked.

“Yes Sir,” Neville said meekly as he accepted the sheet.

“Miss P-P-Potter is very st-strong,” Professor Quirrell said bringing out his wand. “W-Which is a g-g-good thing. I am g-g-glade she can d-defend herself. Be-Being the G-G-Girl-Who-L-Lived means she m-might be in t-t-terrible d-danger.” He waved his wand over Neville and healed the welts. “Is that b-better?”

“Yes Sir,” Neville said with a sigh of relief before frowning. “What did you mean when you said Holly might be in danger?”

“M-Many p-p-people would r-r-rather have n-not seen the f-f-fall of You-Kn-Know-Who,” Professor Quirrell stuttered doing a good show of looking afraid just talking about this. “S-Some even th-think that k-k-killing her would b-b-bring him b-back.” Quirrell did not know what seemed to scare Neville more the idea of his friend being killed or the return of Quirrell’s Master. “L-Luckily in a f-f-few years she will be able to t-take care of her-herself. T-T-Till then she is h-h-here at H-Hogwarts where n-n-nothing d-dangerous h-h-happens… well m-mostly...” He did a good job of looking nervously about.

“What do you mean Professor?” Neville said with wide eyes.

“W-W-Well I shouldn’t be t-telling you t-this but you know P-P-Professor Snape?” Neville nodded. “A r-rather n-n-nasty b-bloke if I do say so m-myself. He was a D-D-Death E-Eater.” Neville went so pale he almost fainted. “Y-Y-Yes. F-Few know of the P-P-Potion M-Master’s p-p-past. A-Apparently he is re-reformed but a-a-after what I saw on H-Halloween… I d-don’t think so.”

“What… what did you see Professor?” Neville asked looking almost as pale as a ghost. “Was it to do with the troll?”

“I th-think so,” Professor Quirrell said with a nod. “Y-you know there is s-s-something on the th-third floor corri-corridor?” He watched as Neville’s eyes widened. “Well a-after I re-recovered from f-f-fainting I f-f-followed Snape there. He was t-trying to get in but he got a-attacked by w-whatever is b-behind there. You m-m-might have seen him l-l-limping before C-Christmas.”

Neville nodded as he did remember Snape having a slight limp around that time. He also remembered Hermione’s words about the three-headed dog guarding something after they had returned from entering that door. “Professor… is Snape after something being guarded here at Hogwarts?” Neville asked.

“You kn-know?” Professor Quirrell said acting his heart out at being shocked and awed by the boy. “It is t-true. T-The other P-P-Professors and I have been a-asked to h-help p-protect the Ph… an item h-here at H-H-Hogwarts by P-P-Professor D-Dumbledore.”

“What is being guarded and why is Snape after it?”

“I think P-P-Professor Snape wants to g-g-give it to his M-Master who he b-believes still l-lurks out there or w-worse, u-use it to r-resurrect his M-Master. As f-for what this i-item is… I have a-already t-t-told you t-too much as it is.”

“Professor… if Snape intends to bring back You-Know…” Neville could not even say that name. “… his Master, then do you think Holly is in danger?”

“P-P-Probably.”

“Can’t you go to Professor Dumbledore?”

“I have t-t-tried. The H-Headmaster is a g-great w-w-wizard but even he has his f-flaws. He has f-f-faith in Snape and b-believes the man to have ch-changed. He was the one that sp-sp-spoke for Snape at his t-trial and st-stopped him from going to Az-Azkaban. The o-other teachers will do n-n-nothing u-unless D-Dumbledore agrees with me and he w-won’t. He is m-making a m-m-mistake in t-trusting Snape.”

“What can we do to stop him from hurting Holly?”

“You c-care about her a l-l-lot, d-don’t you?”

“Holly is…” Neville said blushing. “She’s my friend. She helped me when no one else did and she is always encouraging me. I want to help her too.”

“A n-noble en-endeavour,” Professor Quirrell said. “F-Five p-p-points to G-Gryffindor for your l-loyalty.” He gave Neville his best shaky smile. “Un-unfortunately there is l-l-little we can d-do. E-Each of us P-P-Professors g-guards the knowledge to over c-come our own d-defence so as l-l-long as Snape d-does not know at l-least m-m-mine then we should be f-f-fine. I h-have a-a-already t-t-told you t-too much. F-Far more then I sh-should have. P-P-Please k-k-keep this to yourself M-Mister L-L-Longbottom. I will be f-f-fine.” He gave Neville a smile that wavered so much even the boy would see the face he was seemingly struggling to put on.

“Professor… please let me help. I can’t let Snape get his hands on… whatever is being protected and hurt Holly. I owe her,” Neville pleaded. “I don’t know what use I can be but… Holly is always telling me to believe in myself so let me help you.”

“A-Admirable as you m-may be M-Mister L-L-Longbottom, I w-would need an a-a-assurance of your l-loyalty to k-keep this s-secret,” Professor Quirrell said. “Snape is an a-a-accomplished mind r-reader so you c-could b-b-betray me without e-e-even m-meaning to. F-Few things can p-p-protect you from h-him. N-Nothing l-less then an un-un-unbreakable v-vow.” He watched as Neville’s eyes widened in recognition. Most children from noble houses like the Longbottoms would have heard cautionary tales of the vow. “B-But only if you s-s-seriously want to h-help me… and your f-f-friend.”

Neville fought down the urge to whimper and tried to stand tall. Forcing himself to feel confident he felt a surge of courage like never before. This was for Holly. “I’ll do it Professor.”

Quirrell internally chuckled along with his Master in his head. The lacky was acquired. Now all he needed to do was build the boy’s confidence and set him up to accompany him after the Stone. His Master found a delightful glee in turning Holly Potter’s plan around on her. If she thought the unbreakable vows would protect her friends from him she was wrong. He would use one of her friends against her to acquire the stone. Now all he needed to do was bind the Longbottom boy to him using his Master as a witness for the unbreakable vow.

He accomplished this by convincing Neville one of his snakes could act as witness. A blatant lie but it was better then revealing his Master’s presence with them as he held the wand to their linked hands. Quirrell worded the vows with plenty of outs for the boy once the stone was dealt with. He did not want to scare off his lackey and knew an unbreakable vow was already pushing it. But this was the only way to keep the plan secret from Dumbledore or his pet Death Eater Snape. His Master had considered bringing in the Potions Master but his loyalty was too questionable right now and he was serving a better purpose anyway of deflecting suspicion. Even Holly Potter and her friends believed the real threat was from Snape. Now Neville Longbottom did too. There was an irony of using Longbottom that Quirell was not aware of but his Master chuckled over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took an interesting turn that I was not fully expecting before I wrote it. While reflecting on Holly I found that she, and by extension Harry, have a strange affiliation with charms. It seems like their best or most useful spells tend to be charms. I think it will be very interesting to see what I can do with this. I can imagine a Charms Mistress Holly right now and I like the thought of it.
> 
> As always feedback and comments are appreciated.


	6. Lessons in Life and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a disastrous potions class Holly tries to escape from matters by drinking with her Godfather, enjoying Quidditch practice with her teammates and having her first private lesson with Tonks. But old feelings come to surface and Holly is left confused and unsettled. Just how will Albus help her deal with the storm brewing within her head?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more apologies for the lateness of this chapter. I had some difficulties writing it. Struggled to find a voice for our resident Potions Master and had a completely out of the blue development in the story come about as I wrote it. You will have to read to find out, but I will talk about it more in the end notes.

**Chapter 06:** Lessons in Life and Love

In the months that the first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins had spent under the tutelage of Professor Severus Snape this had to be the most unusual potions class yet. It had been dead silent as they copied down the list of ingredients for the simple herbicide potion. They had brewed the potion before but as with most classes Snape wanted to see if they still remembered how. Holly frowned, something was off, something was wrong… Snape was… not paying her a knuts worth of attention. She furrowed her brow as they moved onto the brewing of the potion.

Holly was not the only one that felt something was off as she prepared her ingredients alongside Ron. Even the Slytherins seemed to be affected by their Head of House’s unusual behaviour. He barely spoke and seemed to walk around the perimeter of the room, watching everybody rather then breathing down their necks and asking why they were not crushing their lionfish spines right or using liquid Flobberworm mucus over the dried variety. The Slytherins seemed almost as docile as Snape while the Gryffindors held their breath hoping that this would be a lasting change in behaviour.

The unexpected cease fire between the two houses was broken when Holly caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, wand at the ready with a spell on her lips only to see Draco Malfoy with a fist full of some ingredient ready to throw it into Holly and Ron’s cauldron as Snape had his back turned. “ _Flipendo_ ,” Holly said the words coming from her mouth and the wand movement happening before she even realised what was going on. It was pure instinct that drove her to cast the spell at Malfoy.

The jinx slammed into him, flipping him back end over end and into one of the tables where the cauldron that was being worked on there was knocked over and onto Malfoy’s head. There was a cry from the blonde-haired boy as he tried to rub the potions mixture out of his eyes. “It burns,” he yelled out.

No one made to help him, no one dare spoke a word or moved a single muscle as Snape whipped around. His wand was out as his dark eyes scanned the room. With quick and precise wand flicks he vanished the substance covering Draco. “Let me see,” he snapped pointing his wand down at Draco. The blonde boy moved his hands out of the way.

There was a pause and Holly was certain that Snape was looking for more then just the damage to Draco’s eyes. She knew he was scanning his mind to see what had happened. She gulped as she stood there frozen in place, still with her wand out. Her own eyes flicked to Ron and Hermione who looked at her with fear. They thought Snape was going to use this as an excuse to punish Holly, they were right on that front, but their fear for what Snape would do went further then just a mere detention. They thought he was going to use it as an opportunity to hurt Holly due to his hatred of her and because he was probably dark himself as they believed he was after the Stone

What they did not know was that it was far worse than that. Snape’s hatred for Holly went further than her status as the Girl-Who-Lived. His ‘dark nature’ had nothing on his true hatred for her. He hated her for something far worse than even the things Holly’s father had done to him in school. He hated her for one fact and one fact alone. She had her mother’s eyes and undeniably represented a link between the woman he loved and the man he loathed. He would make Holly suffer for that.

“Goyal accompany Mister Malfoy to the hospital wing,” Professor Snape said as he stepped back. “There is no sign of damage but have that checked out just in case.” The class held its collective breath as Malfoy was led out of the room by one of his oversized bodyguards. They feared the retribution that would be coming from Snape any moment. “Twenty-five points from…” The Slytherins snickered and the Gryffindors groaned, they knew what was coming. “… Slytherin for disrespecting my class and endangering fellow students Mister Malfoy.”

A deafening silence filled the room as Snape picked up the potions ingredients Draco had dropped with a shake of his head. “Get back to work,” Professor Snape sneered as he swept around the room only to pause at the still frozen stiff form of Holly Potter. “Potter… put away your wand and return to your seat.” He glared down at her as she looked up to meet his eyes.

Sure enough, there came the mental probing. Holly reacted like a caged animal. She tore his probe apart and ripped recent surface thoughts from his mind. ‘She’s so small… how did we not see this sooner?’ Snape’s thoughts rang in Holly’s head. ‘Damn Petunia, and damn Albus for leaving her there with that vile woman and her monster of a husband. She never should have gone there. Lilly would flay them all alive if she knew… if she was alive to…’

Snape stumbled from the mental retaliation as Holly gasped. He knew. Snape knew. Something burned deep inside her. Beyond just shame and anger. There was apart of her that could never forgive Snape fully for his attitude towards her and the way he treated other students, even if she did understand why. Something about that and him of all people knowing the one part of her she had managed to keep secret from him, despite the many times he had read her mind, set her off.

“You… you… you,” she stumbled over her words before storming past the still unbalanced Snape.

“Get back here Potter,” Professor Snape bellowed for the first time today as Holly went for the door. “Get back to your seat right now.”

She spun around and pointed her wand at him. He rose his in own defence. For a moment there Ron and Hermione looked ready to jump in and help her if this turned into a fight. The rest of the class was looking on with wide eyes. Neville did not even notice as his cauldron started to bubble over. “ _Accio bag_ ,” Holly said in a low voice, summoning her bag to her side. Snape looked ready to speak again but Holly’s hair suddenly shifted from deep black to blazing red as she stared him down. Something broke in Snape as he looked at the red headed, green eyed girl glaring at him and his wand fell from his grasp. That was all Holly saw before she turned her back on Snape and stormed out the door. Another of her secrets had just come out but Holly did not care. Her feet took her to her destination without even thinking.

She glared at the gargoyle and without even speaking a word willed it to move out of the way. Holly stalked up the stairs in a blind rage. “Albus!” Holly called, his door flying open before she could even touch it. “You told him.” Her gazed turned to the Headmaster who was seated behind is desk. A calm look was upon that bearded face and that infuriated Holly further. “Admit it.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about Holly,” Albus said in his grandfatherly voice.

“You told Snape about me,” Holly spat as she rose her wand at him. The magic was radiating off her. She could feel her channels becoming inflamed and clogged up, but she bypassed them and pulled the magic right from her core instead. “I know it could not be Sirius and we made sure the Minister covered things up.” The magical energy crackled around Holly. It was like lightning flowing through her veins as she shakily pointed her wand at Dumbledore. “Tonks doesn’t know the full story that Snape does. Ron and Hermione would never tell anyone that…”

Holly felt the air leave her lungs. Ron and Hermione would never tell… but Snape could still know from them. They never covered that as part of their vows. If he had read their minds even before the potions class. A lump formed in her throat. She was an idiot. Of course, that’s how Snape had found out. Anger boiled within her as she realised the mistake she had made. Like dominos it had already caused her to slip up again. She brushed the red strands of hair out of her face as the storm of magic settled down around her and she lowered her wand. Glancing around the room she saw that the office looked like a small tornado had swept through here. Papers were everywhere, books had fallen off shelves and portraits were askew.

“I’m sorry,” were the only words Holly could manage to muster as her knees shook.

Albus conjured an armchair for her to fall back into with a flick of his wand. “It is quite alright Holly my girl,” Albus said with a nod. “Honestly I have been expecting you to reach breaking point for some time. With everything that is going on I am unsurprised that the straw has finally broken the camel’s back.” He waved his wand and a phoenix patronus shot off. “I have sent word to Sirius. Is there anything else you need?”

Holly felt the last of her anger and rage drain from her at the words of her elder mentor. Albus always knew how to settle her with his calm demeanour. She opened her mouth only to be interrupted by a cry from Fawkes who swooped in and perched upon her shoulder. He began his familiar phoenix song as he nuzzled into her side. “I’m fine… but you might need to have words with Snape,” Holly said as she nervously shifted on the chair. “And my metamorphmagus secret is out… also I jinxed Malfoy and he’s in the hospital wing.”

Albus actually chuckled at this as he waved his wand around the room, fixing the little damage she had done. “You do not do things in half measures Holly,” Albus said with a kind smile. “Do not worry. I will deal with Severus and Mister Malfoy. Do not worry about the secret of your ability. It is, as a delightful muggle gentleman once told me, small potatoes.” The twinkle in his eyes assured Holly everything was fine as she relaxed into her chair. “There is some good news to come out of all this.”

“Oh?” Holly said perking up.

“It appears we have learned of your elemental affiliation in record time,” Albus said gesturing to his office. “The storm is as alive within your magic as it is within your animagus form. You called on it and it answer with thunder and lightning. An interesting development considering your parents’ elemental affiliation of water and air. Though something tells me another had influenced your elemental affiliation...”

Holly felt the element the moment she reached out for it. The lightning answer with a contained fury as the thunder trailed behind it like a lingering after taste. She could feel it running through her veins like blood, flowing from her core and seeping out across her forehead. It seemed to concentrate around her scar, and she felt her eyes widen. “Riddle,” Holly growled and wanted to feel sick. Parseltongue was more than enough gifts from him, she hated that he had given her another.

“Tom always had an affiliation for fire eve before he discovered his element,” Albus explained with a deep nod. “Fire, water and air… no wonder your own elemental magic has the full fury of the storm behind it. I am rather stunned you have developed this so quickly after minimal study. Though there are theories that strong emotions linked to such elements do factor in. Either way we can push our training forward further sooner than I would have thought possible. That is at the very least a positive.”

Holly nodded in agreement. “I suppose that’s good,” Holly said. “I had only just started working to identify my element.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “… I think I have a few problems with controlling my emotions. Even occlumency hardly helps with that or my ability to lie. It’s getting harder and harder to keep things together let alone secret Albus and we are not even into the thick of it yet.”

“Nymphadora said much the same to me about your ability to fabricate even the smallest of white lies,” Albus said bringing his hands together. “From what I have observed I fear you are only proficient at lying when able to plan them ahead of time or use grains of truth. Lack of such an ability may well be your downfall with these plans of yours.” Holly grimaced at his words. Albus was right. “For this reason, I have asked Nymphadora to tutor you in matters of deceit alongside her tutelage of your metamorphmagus abilities and lessons in etiquette I believe Sirius has asked her to give you.” Holly pulled a face at the thought of Tonks giving lessons on, of all things, etiquette. “Pointers on controlling your emotions or at least not letting them force your hand might be another thing to add to her plans. You are not the first young girl I have taught who had problems controlling their emotions.”

Before Holly could think this over further, there was a flash of emerald flames and Sirius came racing to her side. “Holly,” he gasped out, embracing her. She noticed he had two large bottles of firewhisky in hand as he released her from the hug.

“I will leave you two to it,” Albus said rising to his feet. “Do not worry about the rest of your classes today. I will make sure Nymphadora is free this weekend to begin tutoring you. We need to get you up to snuff Holly so that we can minimise these issues. I believe she will begin on controlling your abilities and learning to change with ease.”

“Thank-you Albus,” Holly said with a determined smile at the man as he walked towards the floo. “Let’s have a drink Sirius.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Sirius said with a grin.

Albus smiled at the pair as he locked down his office so only those approved could enter it before moving through the floo. He had a Potions Master to speak with and undoubtedly a letter from Lucius Malfoy coming his way. At the very least Holly and Sirius could have their time together left undisturbed. He wondered to himself how best to guide the young woman. Luckily, she had Sirius and Nymphadora by her side as well. Albus doubted he would have been able to comfort her in the way those two could. He disappeared in a flash of emerald flames.

*

“The worst part is Pup,” Sirius said with a slight slur to his words. “Sometimes you ask yourself, do I deserve this? Are they right? Am I bringing shame to the family? Am I a… blight on my ancestors names?”

Holly nodded along with her godfathers, all two of him as she sipped on the last of her firewhisky. “Am I a freak?” she asked in a quieter voice, barely above a whisper. Sirius’ eyes got that dangerous glint in them that always reminded Holly of his Black Family heritage. “I know what you mean Padfoooooot.” She chuckled drily as she struggled to pour herself more whisky. “It’s not even the fact that Snape knows or that he is treating me any different. It’s that he found out from somewhere else but me. I hate when people know things about my private life that I have not told them. Especially these things.”

“I get you, I get you, I get you,” Sirius said like a broken down record player before catching himself. “I once dated this muggleborn witch, it was during the war, but she was from the States working at the Ministry over here. So she did not really know me. I was just some desk jockey Auror to her and she was… she was an escape from it all. The fighting, my family, my past… then one day she started acting odd. She was softer with me, gentler when we got interment and there was this look in her eyes she would get when she thought I was not watching her.

“At first, I feared she might have been Imperiused or something, couldn’t be too careful back in those days. But I dug deep and found out she had accessed my record at the Ministry, learned of who my family was and got in contact with some of the others working there who had gone to school with me. It was no secret that during my school days I had rebelled against my family and more then a few people had seen the scars they left on me.” He paused to take a long drink from his glass. “From then on she knew things about me that I had never wished to share with her. Things that made it different between us… we fell apart soon after that but I still remember feeling… almost violated that she had learned something that I held so close to myself for various reasons.

“It was stupid really. I mean nearly everyone else knew. I was not ashamed by it. Wore it like a badge of honour for a while. ‘See what those monsters did to me, but they can’t break me’. I should have just let it go after she came clean to me but I couldn’t. Even with us each knowing about it and accepting it… things would never be the same between us and I could never go back. So yeah, I get what you are feeling Pup.”

This conversation had taken a sobering turn and Holly could only watch Sirius as she sipped down more firewhisky. In her old timeline she had never really learned the extent of Sirius’ abuse at the hands of his own parents till after his death. It was one of the few things that still gave Holly strength to share her story with him and Albus. Holly felt like she owed Sirius both her own confession and to listen to his. Albus she trusted like a grandfather, despite his flaws and mistakes, she knew better than most about making mistakes. The only other person that had any real indication of this was Tonks and she was… she was the unintentional confidant that Holly had never planned to have. A light in the bleakness that was becoming the arduous task of trying to fix the timeline. Holly was glad to have her.

“What have we got here,” the woman in question asked as she stumbled out of the floo. “A drunken dog and his boozed-up Goddaughter? Setting a bad example are we oh cousin of mine?” Tonks tutted with a waggle of her fluorescent blue eyebrows. “You have clearly started corrupting her without me and that’s just unacceptable.”

Sirius scoffed at her while Holly just grinned like an idiot at the woman. Tonks had always been able to bring a smile to Holly’s face. She was the perfect counter to one of Sirius’ melancholy drinking affairs. A ray of sunshine that never failed to bring a smile to Holly’s face. She had never specifically thought of that brightly coloured woman that way but upon reflection she found it to be true for Tonks. If there was a single person in either timeline that could make her feel like her troubles were a distant worry it was Tonks. “Tonks,” Holly exclaimed trying to rise from her seat with her arms held out. She managed to get to her feat only to topple back into the chair. “You’re here.”

“Sure am Red,” Tonks said with a smirk as she reached down and ruffled Holly’s hair. Locks of red hair were brushed into Holly’s face as Tonks pulled up a chair besides them. “Is that the colour of tonight?” She shifted her own hair to match that shade of red though the style was spikey and short. “Also you look older then usual… those robes are poorly fitted.” She waved her wand and expanded Holly’s clothing. “You know if you lose control of your form this easily while drunk you may want to get some clothing that is enchanted to expand. Trust me it comes in handy.”

“Pup here lost control of her form while sober too,” Sirius chuckled. “Right in the middle of potions class after jinxing one of our favourite cousins.” Sirius seemed to think this was highly amusing while Tonks winced in sympathy.

“Can’t say I blame you,” Tonks said. “The amount of times I lost control of my own form in Snape’s class.” She shook her head with a sigh. “But maybe it’s better that it’s out there. Means I can work you harder when we start practicing changing without fear of your body subconsciously cycling through the forms we work on while out in public.”

Holly nodded dumbly at Tonks. She had said a lot of words that Holly was not sure her inebriated self fully comprehended but Tonks was smiling so Holly did too. “You’re going to be a good teacher,” Holly said her words slightly slurred. She felt better with her robes not cutting into her anymore, so she relaxed and let her body grow into its adult form. Whatever charm Tonks had cast on her seemed to allow the clothing to grow with her. “You’ve got to teach me that spell.”

“I’ll add it to the list but make sure to either get undressed or shift your form back before it wears off,” Tonks advised. “It’s not permanent like enchanted clothing but it will do the trick for a few hours. Trust me when I say you don’t want to be in that form with them on when it wears off… tearing out of your clothing might sound fun but once you almost get strangled by one bra the idea of doing it again wears off fast.” Holly had the decency to blush at the mention of Tonks’ undergarments much to the further amusement of Sirius and Tonks, who grinned at the younger woman.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Holly mumbled before taking a large gulp of her firewhisky to hide her face from the other two.

“You look like you’ve had a worse day than me,” Tonks said with a sigh as she grabbed the half empty bottle of whisky and threw her feet up on the desk before leaning back in her chair. “And I’ve been through the winger with freaking Mad-Eye.” She drank straight from the bottle as she groaned in pain. “My ribs are killing me.”

“What are you up to with old Mad-Eye Moody?” Sirius asked having finally calmed down from his laughing fit. “And are you going to drink all of that?” He held out his empty glass.

“You have another bottle,” Tonks said as she continued to drink the firewhisky. “Dumbledore got me set up with him to train me.”

“I thought you weren’t becoming an Auror this time around,” Holly said. She grinned as her godfather scoffed at Tonks before opening the second bottle and pouring himself another glass.

“I’m not and glad of it too,” Tonks said with a shake of her head. “That old man can tell quite the tale of just how much bullshit an Auror has to put up with. I don’t want to be stuck behind a desk stamping paperwork. Hey watch the boots!” She shifted her feet out of the way as Sirius almost spilt the drink he was pouring upon her leather combat boots. He mumbled an apology. “Anyway, Moody’s taken me on as an apprentice. Did you know that all Aurors do a Masters in Defence Against the Dark Arts as part of their training? Also, I need to catch up to myself from the other timeline if I want to be helpful in the coming war.”

Holly frowned, if at all possible she wanted to avoid a war altogether. Her eyes flickered to Albus’ desk that was now stained with a new puddle of alcohol. “We really need to find a better place to drink… and train for that matter,” Holly mused as she looked around the room. As useful as the office had been it was far too crowded and too many valuable things were here. “I would suggest the Room of Requirements but that’s hard for you lot to access without having to sneak through the castle.”

“I could do it,” Tonks said with a shrug. “Even without your cloak I could just make myself look like one of your friends or hell maybe just Dumbledore. If anyone asked, we’re off to do training. I don’t know about Sirius.”

Sirius shook his head. “With that bastard Wormtail in the castle I can’t go out there. Even as Padfoot or under the cloak… too damn risky,” Sirius growled lowly. “One lucky glance of me and he might just decide that Hogwarts is not as safe as he thought. Speaking of which though, how’s the Sirius Black watch going?” He turned to Tonks who grinned back at him.

“Pretty good,” she answered. Tonks had been making frequent appearances disguised as a dirty looking Sirius headed down south-west through Scotland. The muggles were on alert for the escape of a madman matching Sirius’ description and so Tonks had made sure to be spotted by several of them in connecting villages and hamlets. These reports would reach the Ministry and before long they should realise that Sirius Black was headed in the direction of Hogwarts. “Another month or two and you might get to play grim around Hogsmead. How’s Dumbledore going with his side of the plan?”

“He’s working on it,” Holly answered with a shrug. “But the Stone takes priority. As much as I would rather deal with Wormtail now, Quirrelmort is the bigger threat.” Sirius nodded in agreement. “I dare say that you’ll be a free man before the year is out.”

“That sounds good to me Pup,” Sirius said. His eyes caught Tonks before he looked back to Holly. “There’s been something we been meaning to ask you.” Holly gestured for him to go on. “Would it be okay if we confided in Tonks’ parents about me? Andi always believed in my innocents and Ted’s a good bloke. Tonks said they would probably be willing to put me up. As much fun as it has been to stay in Dumbledore’s quarters… I think it would be less risky if I stayed with them.”

“Aurors have already come around and questioned my parents about Sirius and they were satisfied that they knew nothing,” Tonks added with a grin. “Mum and Dad have my old room spare and would love the company. You and I can visit whenever we like. I would invite him to sleep on my couch, but I don’t think Diagon Alley is a great place to hide the most wanted wizard in the country. Nor do I think my roommate would be too thrilled with an accused mass murderer crashing on our couch.”

“I wanted to go to Grimmauld Place. But apparently that’s too ‘depressing and lifeless’ for me,” Sirius grumbled while Tonks smirked. “So what do you think Pup?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Holly nodded. She was a bit sad at the prospect of Sirius not being close by, but she supposed he would still just be a floo call away. “And Tonks is right. Grimmauld Place is the last place you want to live while recovering from Azkaban. That would be like asking me to go live back at Privet Drive. Even without the Dursleys that’s a nightmare. Too many bad memories right now.”

“Cheer up you two,” Tonks said as the atmosphere took a depressing turn. “We’ll do something about Grimmauld Place during the summer. Do some renovations, have fun trying to tear down a certain portrait… throw out an umbrella stand before it becomes the bane of my existence.” She growled and the other two laughed. “I saw how much I hated that darn thing in the other timeline. It’s not going to get me again, not if I get it first.” She smirked at them as she raised the bottle of firewhisky high. “To happier memories, both new and old.”

“… and the death of all umbrella stands,” Holly said as she raised her own glass. Tonks gave her a withering glare.

“Cheers,” Sirius said chuckling at the other two before they all drank together.

*

Flying was one of many things Holly had missed in Azkaban. Almost more than her family and friends. It was the feeling of ultimate freedom. An escape from her worries and an opportunity to not be the Girl-Who-Lived. Up here in the air she was the Gryffindor Seeker and nothing more. Nothing but her, the wind and the broom below her. As fun as her animagus form was to fly in, a broom would always be her prefer method of flight. There was something about the control she wielded over the broom, willing it to dive, climb and roll that made her feel alive. It was thrilling in a way nothing else could match.

She turned on a dime and dived, hard and fast towards the ground. Her Firebolt might have been faster, sleeker and more agile but it was not quite the same as her Nimbus 2000. The broom vibrated below her as she pushed it to the limit, rocketing through the air. The ground was approaching her rapidly, the hard Quidditch pitch racing up to meet her. A scream sounded distantly, but it was cut off by the rush of wind past her ears as Holly waited to the last possible moment before pulling up. She laughed as the grass tickled her hands while the broom below her shook violently. Holly was just able to keep it under control as she raced along, barely two inches above the pitch.

Pulling up along the stands she turned over in the air and came to a halt at one end of the pitch. Looking back at the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team she saw they had all stopped their training to watch her. Katie Bell’s mouth was still hanging open, even after the scream had died. Oliver Wood looked like he was going to fall off his broom, his eyes were glazed over and there was a big goofy grin upon his face. The Weasley twins smirked at one another before speaking together. “Wicked.”

“The Wronski Feint,” Alicia Spinnet gasped her jaw almost falling away as she gaped at Holly.

“Hufflepuff is not going to know what hit them,” Angelina Johnson commented as she swooped down aside Oliver. “You right there Ollie?” She bumped him with her shoulder. “When I saw Holly take that dive I thought she’d be the one in the hospital wing, not you.”

“That was bloody brilliant,” Oliver shouted, finally snapping out of his stupor. “Where in the blazes did you learn that?”

“Quidditch Through the Ages mentioned it and I did a little research on it over the winter break,” Holly said not hiding the grin upon her face. “It was easier to practice in the thicker snow; ground was not as hard, and I never went that fast before.”

“Well keep it up Holly,” Oliver said looking like he was about to weep joyful tears. “We’ve got over a month before the next match, but I want you to keep training hard. With you on our team we have a chance at the cup this year.”

“Don’t cut yourself short Oliver,” Holly said circling around the pitch to join the rest of the team as they came together. “You’re one of the best keepers there is and certainly the best captain.” She reached up and pulled her father’s seeker goggles onto her forehead. The magically enchanted eyewear not only protected her vision from all conditions but with a tap of her glasses against them they had taken on the properties of her prescription. She grinned at the blurs that were her teammates. “Everyone else is alright too.”

The others objected as Oliver grinned at Holly. “Alright,” he said with a sigh. “As much as I want to keep us practicing long into the night, sun’s getting low. Everyone pack it up. Let’s head down for warm showers and a jog up to the castle. Together team.” Everyone groaned at this as Angelina threw the Quaffle at his head. Oliver caught it with ease before rolling his eyes and flying back down to recall the Snitch and Bludgers.

Holly laughed to herself as she pulled her goggles back on and dived down towards the locker rooms. She had missed the Quidditch team. Maybe even more then flying itself. They were some of the few people within the school that did not treat her any different to each other. Oliver was tough on everyone. The Weasley twins joked around with and poked fun at her as much as they did anyone else. The three female chasers were like older sisters to her. Each more protective then the last and just as fierce. If Ron and Hermione had been her best friends during the old timeline, the Quidditch team were her family.

One shower and team jog up to the castle later and Holly found herself eating dinner with the rest of the team. They always sat together in the Great Hall at meals after a practice. Other friends of the team joined them such as Ron and Hermione, but Holly always felt special sitting with her team for these meals. This was their family dinner and for once she got to be surrounded by people that could not care more who she was. To them she was their Seeker and sister. For once she was just Holly. It was the perfect end to a perfect Saturday for Holly. Nothing beyond her team and friends mattered.

It was with mild regret that she had to leave early. Holly apologised stating she needed to head to a lesson with Dumbledore but everyone understood. Oliver even offered to save her some treacle tart for later once that was served out. Holly grinned as she made her way up to the seventh floor. As worried as she had been for the future there were things back here in the past that still managed to bring bliss to her. Checking the map once more she ensured no one else was around before coming to the familiar tapestry of trolls being taught ballet. Walking in front of the blank wall opposite it three times she watched as a door materialised within the wall.

With one final glance down at the map she walked forward and pushed it open, stepping into the room beyond. It was a similar room to what had been the meeting place for Dumbledore’s Army only cosier. There was a large area to practice duelling and spell casting with metal mannequins and targets but that was off to the side. The rest of the room was filled with shelves of books along the walls, green plants growing in pots that hung from the ceilings, a roaring fireplace with a yellow and black striped rug surrounded by yellow armchairs and a cream coloured couch.

Upon one of the chairs sat a woman with glittering stars in her deep purple hair. Her attention turned to Holly as a grin came over her face. “About time you turned up,” Tonks said, her dark eyes sparkling in the firelight. She held up a hand mirror. “I was so bored that I started playing around with my hair.”

“Sorry,” Holly said as she hurried over to Tonks’ side. “I barely managed to escape my team from dinner. They’re a protective bunch.”

“I was never on the Quidditch team, probably because I flew my broom into the Whomping Willow that one ti… twice, but I would imagine so,” Tonks said. She grimaced at the memory of that incident in first year… and again in fifth year though her memories of the second time were a little hazy. Probably due to the alcohol they had smuggled in beforehand. “You’re their star Seeker after all.”

“And to them that’s all that matters” Holly said with a sigh as she plonked down onto the couch. “No Girl-Who-Lived, no time traveller from a desolated future, no little orphan freak… just Holly the Seeker. You have no idea how much I have always wanted that.”

“I have a fair idea,” Tonks said the stars disappearing from her hair as she morphed it back to the familiar bubble-gum pink colour. “Sometimes I wish I could just be Tonks the witch over Tonks the metamorphmagus or Tonks the daughter of the biggest blood traitor since the Weasley family.”

“But you could be anyone you wanted,” Holly said her brow furrowing at the hard look in those pitch-black eyes.

“But I would not be me,” Tonks said with a sad smile. “I have thought about trying to disappear into the muggle or magical world more times then not. Take on a new name. Keep the same fake appearance. Tried it a couple times… never lasted longer then a day or two. I have to be true to myself before I can be anything else. First rule of being a metamorphmagus. Be true to yourself.” She flicked her wand at Holly. “So, you can start that by releasing the form you are holding. I have already used the clothes expansion charm upon you.”

Holly’s form grew. She felt her arms and legs lengthed along with her torso. Her hair grew a few inches and even the odd freckle appeared here or there. She could feel her lungs expand, bones growing out as they fused into their adult form and her chest expanded. It felt to Holly like she had been holding her breath all day long as she was finally able to relax into this form. She appeared to be in her late teens and even though that was not her mental age it was the form she was currently most comfortable in. “So this is my true form?” Holly asked.

“Yes and no. Here, have a look,” Tonks said as she handed Holly the mirror. “A metamorphmagus has no real true form. Not in the way most think of it as at least.” She screwed up her face in concentration as she tried to find the words to explain this. “I don’t have a hidden face under any of this or anything.” She gestured at herself. “There’s no secret true form or any of that nonsense. But there is a, for lack of a better term, natural form. It’s the form I am the most comfortable in and the one I do not have to concentrate on maintaining. I bet you can guess that form.” Tonks smiled as she leaned forward on the edge of the chair towards Holly, cupping her own face in her hands.

Holly nodded as she eyed the woman before her. The heart-shaped face, dark midnight black eyes and bright heart-warming smile. “It’s a good look on you,” Holly said. She suddenly felt a little flushed. Was the fireplace a little too warm? “So this is my natural form?” She looked away from Tonks and into the hand mirror.

She was not much taller than she had been in the old timeline. Holly felt like she would always be short. Her hair was still a right mess, cut just above her shoulders, with enough of a fringe to hide her scar. Her green eyes were still the same shade but there was a dark look in them, one she had often associated with Sirius. Her lips were pink and full, skin a fair shade with the occasional freckle while her body was devoid of any hair beyond that on her head and face. Holly smiled at herself as she noticed that along with the extra inch or two in height, she had filled out a minor amount. Her body was not the skin and bones it had been but actually had a little muscle and fat to it. She was pleased to note that her breasts had grown a little too. That had always been a sore spot for her growing up but now they were at least noticeable as opposed to the bee-stings Malfoy had once teased her about.

“This is what your body feels is an appropriate proportion of fat and muscle,” Tonks said noticing which parts of her own body Holly was checking out. Holly guiltily looked away with a deep blush upon her face. “Don’t be embarrassed. You look nice Holly. You deserve to appreciate your body a little more.” Holly appreciated Tonks’ words more than her own body. “I know I do.”

“Shut up,” Holly said swatting at Tonks as she giggled. “Do you think I’ll continue to fill out as I take my Muscle and Fat Growth Potions?”

“Your form will change as you change. I have had many different variations of this form and went through many phases where I looked entirely different day by day. But those potions should provide your body some more building materials,” Tonks said. “You can produce extra mass from your magic but its not real fat or muscle or bone or whatever else. It’s just magic. Unless you have the extra material lying around, as such.” She expanded her own body, piling on muscle and fat till she looked like an Olympic athlete. She grinned at Holly as she flexed her arms. “One of the best things to work on is building up your reserve. This is the sum total of mine, but I keep most of it under wraps unless I need it. There’s no harm in storing as much as you like, I have enough hair stored up to play the part of Rapunzel.”

“Woah,” Holly said as her eyes bugged out at Tonks in all her might. “You’re… you’re actually really tall.” Holly’s eyes roamed over Tonks’ body. She was like an Amazonian.

“This is a more advanced trick, but you don’t actually have to use all your reserve on the same body properties,” Tonks explained. She noticed Holly’s unwavering stare and smiled internally. “You can transmute fat into muscle or muscle into bone or anything like that. Of course, certain things do not transmute one for one. Hair for example takes a lot more to turn into muscle or bone then fat does. Dumbledore explained it using a lot of alchemical terms that I can’t remember but basically, it’s not one for one. It’s also really hard to do and is honestly often easier to build up your muscle reserve then transmuting fat or hair into it. For anything you don’t have in your reserve you can use your magic but that can be costly.”

“Yeah holding adult forms does leave me feeling a little drained,” Holly said with a nod. “Luckily I have a good core of magic, but I do need to build up the rest of my reserves.”

“That will be something you will work on outside of these lessons, but I’ll be monitoring your progress and helping you along,” Tonks said as she let herself shift back down to her natural form. She pretended not to hear the slight groan of disappointment from Holly under the woman’s breath. Tonks considered teasing the girl about this but decided to let it rest for now. She had lessons to give. “Eventually we’ll get to some fun and more useful stuff such as animal features, mimicking Polyjuice Potion and even shifting in duels for a tactical advantage but let’s focus on the simple stuff. Basic changing.”

“I’m pretty good at that,” Holly said as she scrunched up her face. The seconds ticked on as Tonks waited on Holly.

“Are you going to do anything or…”

Holly’s hair changed from black to the same bubble-gum pink colour as Tonks’. “See?”

“I see that you took far to long to make a very simple change,” Tonks commented. “One that I have seen you make far quicker before when you are running off of your emotions.”

“At least it did not take as long to do as my animagus form,” Holly said with a shrug. “Sirius said that I’m slower than Wormtail used to be. I take minutes to get into that form.”

“Physical changes are harder to do the younger you are,” Tonks explained. “At least when your physical age is young. You’ll naturally get faster as you age, but we can kickstart that with some basic training.” She got up from her chair and came to sit over with Holly on the couch. “Face me and revert back your natural form.” They turned so they were sitting there within centimetres of one another as Holly relaxed and her hair went back to being raven black. Tonks reached out and grasped Holly’s hand before shifting her form to match Holly.

“Wow are those really what my eyes look like?” Holly said suddenly taken back by those emerald coloured orbs in the flesh as opposed to a mirror. “And the rest of me is not too bad either.” She felt a weird feeling at eyeing someone that looked like herself up.

“Better than any mirror,” Tonks said with a smirk as she squeezed her new twin’s hand. “I mentioned before about mimicking Polyjuice Potion? Well this is what you get. Just need physical contact and you can copy someone one for one, down to the smallest detail.” She winked at Holly and watched the girl’s eyes widen. “And that now I have memorised this feeling of your form I can take it any time I desire. Occlumency is very useful for a metamorphmagus.”

“I know,” Holly said with a nod. “One of the only ways I can maintain the differences in my forms is to memorise how they feel.”

“That was always the hardest part for me. Glad you got the hang of it but today we are just going to focus on the actual action of changing,” Tonks explained. Holly was glad she kept her own voice as although it was weird to see her twin’s lips move and Tonks’ voice come out it would have been weirder if she had of copied Holly’s vocal cords too. “We’ll start on colour of eyes, move to hair and then start on length and shape. I doubt we’ll get much further than that for tonight but we’ll have plenty more time to work on things.”

“You know I’ve tried changing myself with much more complicated things then just colour and that has yet to really improve on my time taken or the ease at which I can do it,” Holly commented with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Ahhhh but you’ve never had someone to push you, someone to decide what you will change into, someone to make you work harder,” Tonks said with a glint in her eyes. “We’re not going to spend mere minutes or even hours on this. We’re going to keep practicing and going at it all night if I must. I am not going to stop challenging you till I am happy with what you can do.”

“I’ll challenge you all night long,” Holly said with a chuckle.

Tonks snorted and her hair shifted back to the violet colour it was from time to time before she squeezed Holly’s hand and regained her form. “Good one,” Tonks said shaking her head. “Glad to hear you can dish out the teasing as much as you can take it. Sirius and I were beginning to think you were just an easy target for us embarrassing you. I was starting to feel sorry for you.” Holly glared at Tonks’ wicked smirk. “Anyway, just copy what I do, fast as you can. Go!”

She shifted her eyes from green to yellow and a few seconds later Holly started to follow suit. Her own change was painstakingly slow compared to Tonks’ instant colour switch, but she got there in the end. Only Tonks was quick to go from yellow to orange and Holly had to struggle to keep up. Tonks did not let up with her colour changes. As they cycled through shades of all different colours, she started to add stranger hues and patterns into the mix that Holly had to replicate perfectly. Anytime she got lost Tonks would just take her hand and guide her through the change. It was easier with Tonks making physical contact as Holly could feel the change taking place and was able to copy it. Tonks was impressed with this as it was the first step to being able to copy other people’s forms through physical touch alone.

By the end of the night they had gotten not only through eye colour, hair colour and hair length but onto hair styles and texture. Tonks had a very fine control over her hair. She was able to pleat it or tie it into a bun with her powers alone. Holly struggled to control her length of hair let alone untangle the violent mess it was normally in, but Tonks had managed to help her get it into a few styles. “This one is always fun when you realise you can store things in it,” Tonks said as she ruffled the large afro Holly had gotten her hair into. “Remember the easy way to reset is to just let yourself relax back into your natural form.” Tonks did just that and let herself return to the familiar bubble-gum pink haired woman.

Almost as if on instant Holly felt herself change and suddenly blinked as she found herself at the same height as Tonks with pink hair across her face. “Whoopsie,” Holly said as she realised she had been holding Tonks’ hand throughout the change and that her form had just copied what it felt. In fact, she had been holding Tonks’ hand for most of the night now that she thought of it. “Damn this is a fun form. I can see why you like it so much. You got some junk in the trunk girl.” Holly winked at Tonks as she felt up her own backside in this form.

“I don’t see you minding much in that first memory of seeing me,” Tonks said with a grin. “Actually, you could barely keep your eyes off of me in that old timeline. In particular, certain parts of me.” She winked as Holly’s hair shifted to a red colour to match her blushing face. “Glad to see I leave a lasting impression.”

“I was what? Fifteen? Fourteen? And just noticing women for the first time and suddenly there’s an older woman with a very nice behind in my bedroom. Damn right I couldn’t control my eyes,” Holly defended herself with a huff. “Didn’t help she soon afterwards told me she was a shapeshifter that could change _any_ part of her body.”

“When you say you were just noticing women for the first time…” Tonks teased as she fluttered her eyelashes. “I distinctly remember you having a crush on that Chang girl and asking out one of those twins in your grade before you met me. Or were those memories out of order?”

“Cho was…” Holly said. “She was a girl I had a crush on because I thought she was nice and good at Quidditch. Parvati was… she was a replacement for Cho that although pretty herself… I didn’t know how I felt about women back then. Only Hermione had a clue what I was thinking, and she pushed me to ask a girl to the Yule Ball over a bloke. Which in retrospect was a good idea as I can’t imagine just how uncomfortable that would have been… unless I had asked them as a friend or something but that would still have been awkward with the way the press were treating me.”

“So if your memories are right Cho was your first girl crush, Parvati your first date, Cho again as your first kiss and Ginny your first love,” Tonks rattled off and got a minor nod from the blushing girl. “Then what was I to you Holly? Because I don’t mind being the object of your first teenage fantasy or something but I don’t know if that look has ever left your eyes when I’m around.”

“I… you…” Holly stumbled over her words. She felt her form respond and start to shrink back into the couch as she tried to look away only for Tonks to grasp her hand and pull her back. What she had thought was gentle teasing had suddenly become mildly serious and there was no godfather around to make a joke about that or distract them from the conversation. Holly locked eyes with Tonks and knew that she was not escaping this conversation without answering the question. “If Cho was my first crush on a girl… you were… you were my first crush on a woman.”

“Oh,” Tonks said and glanced away.

Holly bit into her bottom lip so hard she almost drew blood. “Listen… I’m sorry that I looked at you like that and that I still do a bit, but you were the first adult woman that caught my eye,” Holly rambled grasping Tonks’ hand tightly. “I was confused, hormonal and already thought myself a freak so finding out I like women… that was a blow, but you were always… I don’t know. Different is the word. You were different to anything else in my life. Other people looked at me as the Girl-Who-Lived or the Chosen One. You never treated me different and was always able to make me smile.”

“And I have a rocking booty to boot,” Tonks said turning back to Holly with a bright smile. “Yeah I get it. You’re not the first to drool over me though it’s nice that you like me for my natural form and my personality over my shape changing ability. Though I have never minded adding a little here and there and indulging in a couple fantasies.” She winked at Holly once more and let out a deep breath as her breasts expanded before laughing at the red-faced girl besides her. “Relax Holly. You look more tense then I did during my NEWTs. I was going to say you’re not an eyesore yourself but you’re still in a smaller version of my body… which is a little weird even for me.”

Holly took a couple deep breaths and let her body return to its natural form. “Any better?” She asked. “Or do you have a few idolized body proportions? Two can play at this game.” She inflated her own breasts only to feel them balloon upon her chest in a weird way. They seemed too light and oddly shaped as she looked down at them. Tonks could not help giggling as Holly frowned at her own chest.

“We’ll have to practice that one but good attempt,” Tonks said shaking her head. “For the record though from a little baby I once held in my arms to the woman you have grown to be you are beautiful Holly Potter.” Holly blinked, had the Tonks from the other timeline ever mentioned she had held Holly as a baby? She reached forward and placed a hand upon Holly’s chin, looking deep into those emerald eyes. “Second rule about being a metamorphmagus. Never be ashamed of your own body. We are beautiful no matter how we look, and we don’t have to change for anyone but ourselves. Be the woman you want to be because let me tell you, you are hot just as you are. No need for these.” She poked one of Holly’s ballooned breasts and felt it almost deflate.

“Same to you,” Holly said with a laugh as she poked at Tonks’ breast only to feel very real tissue behind her weird sisters t-shirt. “Though if you want to be eye-candy for me…”

“Ha!” Tonks burst out. “We’ll see about eye-candy when we get to further bodily changes. You’re lucky you got to keep your clothes on for this session.” As predicted that made Holly become a blushing red mess. Her hair was almost brighter than her face. “Well you better get to bed, it is late.” She relaxed back into her natural state, breasts returning to their usual size as Holly did the same. “I’m going to sleep the night here and make my way home in the morning. It will be easier to get to a floo disguised as someone when there are actual people out and about.”

“Don’t be silly Tonks,” Holly said shaking her head as she pulled out her cloak. “Get under here with me and I will just walk with you to Albus’ office before heading up to my dorm. We can use the map and I know this cloak can fit both of us if we’re careful.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Tonks said with a shrug as she got up and made her way to the door with Holly. “This will be cosy.” Holly pulled the cloak around them as Tonks slipped her arms around the smaller woman. “You know we could shrink down and have plenty of room to not have to walk like this?”

“I know,” Holly said as she curled up into Tonks, her head barely above Tonk’s arms. “I’m too tired to shift back yet. You really worked me hard. But if you want to shrink down and give us more room…”

“I’m right like this,” Tonks said with a grin as she adjusted the cloak around them.

They pulled out the Marauder’s Map and left the Room of Requirement. Walking together like this was a challenge with Tonks’ natural clumsiness but Holly not so secretly revelled in the chance to be cuddled up close to the woman under the cloak. The best Christmas gift ever once again proved its worth as they successfully snuck past a pair of Ravenclaw prefects. The silencing charm from Tonks really helped them to hurry by unnoticed. Soon enough they arrived back at the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. With no one in sight on the map they slipped off the cloak.

“Thanks for tonight Tonks,” Holly said as she looked at the woman in the dim light. “You’re a pretty good teacher and I liked learning about my abilities. I never got much chance to explore them. About what I said before. I’m sorry again…”

“Oh shush you,” Tonks said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re making a big fuss over nothing. I think it’s sweet that you had a crush on me and evidently still de.” Holly’s red face was proof enough of that. “Who knows? Maybe if you had of been a bit bolder the other me might have reciprocated. You grew into a brave, beautiful, talented woman and she would have been crazy to not have felt something for you.” Tonks leaned close to Holly, their arms still around each other from the walk. “Her loss.” She leaned down and kissed Holly on the cheek before breaking away. “Goodnight Holly and don’t forget to change back into your younger form.”

“Goodnight Tonks,” Holly murmured on autopilot. Before the woman’s actions or words could even really sink in, she was gone up the stairs and Holly was left alone in the hall. She felt awkward as she shifted in form down to her eleven-year old self.

What the hell did all that mean? Holly groaned as she pulled the cloak back over herself. Try as she might to escape the teenage hormones, they just kept coming back to her. Maybe it was because she kept shifting her form forwards and back through puberty or perhaps it was that her natural form was right at the edge of her teenage years. She had no idea how puberty even really worked with metamorphmagi but Holly swore this was far worse the second time around. She did not remember the walk back to her dorm, nor did she recall falling asleep still wrapped in her invisibility cloak but the dreams she had that night were pleasant and the feeling of wet lips against her cheek lingered on.

*

Sunday morning was spent with Ron and Hermione for the most part. Hermione was trying to drag Ron away from a chess game to do his homework. She succeeded for the most part, though it did not help that Holly finished hers in record time and became the number one distraction for Ron. To try and limit this Holly pulled out her book on elemental magic and tried to look as boring as she could manage. She was just getting to the part about using elemental magic in duels when she felt eyes upon her. Glancing up she saw Ron and Hermione looking at her.

“Is there something in my teeth?” she asked as she rubbed a finger over them.

“No there’s nothing in your teeth Holly,” Hermione said her eyes glued upon Holly.

“Mate… your hair,” Ron said his eyes wide. “It’s doing that thing again it did in potions class?”

“Oh,” Holly said catching sight of an electric blue lock of hair in the corner of her eye. “Yeah it does that. Turns out I’m a metamorphmagus and I can shape change. I’m being taught how to control my abilities but in doing so I might suffer some unconscious changes till I get things under control.” She could already see the jealousy welling in Ron’s eyes and decided once more to cut that off before it began. “It’s really hard work and I can barely get the very basics of it. Might take me years before I am really good at it.”

“I’ve never read about those,” Hermione said excitedly and looked like she wanted to race off to the library to start researching them right this moment.

“Mum said there was once one in our family a few generations back,” Ron mused with a shrug. “It’s supposed to be hered… heredi-something.”

“Hereditary,” Hermione said.

“That’s it. But none of us have ever shown any signs… though I would not put it past the twins to try and hide it,” Ron said eyeing Fred and George from across the common room. “Being able to look like anyone else must be pretty sweet.”

“I’m far from that,” Holly said. She was downplaying her abilities as she knew more than just Ron and Hermione would be listening to her. She had avoided the eyes of the school yesterday with Quidditch practice, but she knew more then a few people had caught wind of the incident in potions class. Malfoy was surely out for her blood the next time she crossed paths with him. “I’m working on control and small changes right now. Nothing big like that. You saw me lose it in potions class.”

“Speaking of which,” Hermione said, hitting on a subject she had seemingly wanted to bring up for a while. “What the hell was that about? Why did Professor Snape act all weird around you? It didn’t have anything to do with…” She glanced around at all the other people in the classroom. Lavender and Parvati were actively leaning forward in their chairs towards them. “… the thing that we know about behind the… other thing.”

Despite Hermione’s whispered words Holly noticed a few people heard this. Most looked puzzled but Neville seemed to have some idea of what they were talking about. “No,” Holly whispered back. “And don’t worry about that or Snape. Albus can keep him in line.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to go meet with Professor Snape actually. He requested I speak to him before our next class.” Ron and Hermione shared a worried look. “Relax you two, Snape won’t do anything, not while I have Albus watching over me.”

Ron stood alongside Holly. “Are you sure you don’t want one of us coming with you?” he asked glancing back at Hermione.

“We can watch your back Holly,” Hermione said dropping her quill. “Or at least be nearby if you need back-up.” 

Holly glanced between the two. It meant a lot to her that Hermione would abandon her homework to try and protect Holly and that Ron would willingly walk into the Potions Master’s office alongside her, even if his offer may have been made partially to get out of doing his homework. Holly doubted either of them stood much of a chance against Snape if he did try something, which she knew he would not.

“Thanks you two, but don’t worry,” Holly said stepping away. “I’ll be fine. Get back to your homework and I will see you at lunch.”

As she retreated through the common room, she caught Hermione and Ron still watching her nervously before she sighed. They would learn soon enough. A hand caught her sleeve as she reached the portrait hole. “Neville?” Holly asked turning to see the boy standing by her side. She could see he had his wand out in one hand and a determined look in his eyes.

“Holly… if you need someone to go with you to see Snape,” he said his words wavering for a moment before he got a hold of himself. “I’ll come with you.”

“I’m fine Nev,” Holly said rolling her eyes. “Listen I appreciate the thought, but Snape won’t try anything. He knows Albus is watching me too closely and besides I can handle him.” The look on Neville’s face seemed to say differently. “Thank-you for your offer but I will be okay. Truly Neville, there is no need to stand up to Snape for me. I’m a big girl. I can fight my own battles.”

“Okay,” Neville murmured but he kept a hold of his wand as Holly left the common room.

Holly really did appreciate her friend’s offers, even if they were misguided on who the real threat in the castle was, but she was alright. She knew Snape would either be weird around her or treat her the same as always, as if she was a speck of mud upon his boots. Either way she was not looking forward to this conversation. But Albus had encouraged her to go after he had had words with the man. Maybe he had managed to talk Snape into being civil to her. Stranger things had happened.

She used the map alone to avoid people as she disappeared down into the dungeons. The castle was easy enough to navigate on a lazy Sunday without the need for her cloak. She still had the garment on hand if need be, she never let it out of her grasp if she could avoid it. Arriving at Snape’s office door she knocked upon it. “Enter,” came a sharp voice and Holly stepped her way in. “Ahhh Potter. I had wondered when you would be along. Take a seat.”

“Good Morning Professor Snape,” Holly said as she closed the door behind her and stepped into the seat across from his desk. “Albus told me you needed to see me?”

“Indeed,” Professor Snape drawled, his eyes narrowing at the use of the Headmaster’s first name. “We need to discuss a little incident in Potions class.”

“With all due respect Sir, Malfoy made a move against me first. I was just defending…”

“I know,” Professor Snape snapped. “The Headmaster has explained to me that you would prefer if I keep my ‘special treatment’ of you Potter to a minimum. I cannot return to treating you the way I did for… my own reasons.”

“I think I can surmise those reasons Sir,” Holly said. She gave him a sympathetic look but he merely sneered in response. “How can we work this out Sir?”

“The Headmaster has provided an alternative,” Professor Snape said. A look of distain came across his face. “He has suggested in no uncertain terms that I treat all students to a higher degree with… few exceptions. He also tells me that you can be trusted so against my better judgement I am sharing this with you. Keep it to yourself if you know what is good for you.” Despite Albus’ new orders to his pet Death Eater, Snape had not lost his glare as he bore into Holly’s eyes. He was not foolish enough to probe her mind a second time, but she could tell he wanted to.

“Thank-you for this extension of trust Professor,” Holly said with a nod that broke the glare. “I apologise for my reaction in our last class and I would like to extend an olive branch of my own. I have talked with a few people about my parents and I want to apologise for the actions of my father. I know it might mean nothing not coming from his mouth but please let me say it anyway. I am sorry for his treatment of you at school. I was bullied myself in primary school and I know how tough that can be. I can only imagine the hardship of the magical world and how it already looks down upon certain people.”

The anger in Snape’s eyes betrayed just how much those words got to him. Holly could tell he wanted to lash out. He wanted to hurt someone to lessen his own pain, but he held himself back. “Your apology should not be needed but it is appreciated,” Professor Snape said staying remarkably civil. Holly wondered if she had tried to apologise for her father in the original timeline Snape would have taken it this well. Probably not without the shared knowledge of her abuse at the hands of the muggles. He was a man with as many faults as any other. “For my part I apologise myself to you for my own treatment of you this year. I can only imagine how many… unpleasant memories that may have brought back.”

Holly’s eyes widened. She had never even considered the possibility that Snape’s attitude would have touched on those memories. Was that why she hated the man so much? She consulted her occlumency mindscape. One quick search later for that feeling she had around Snape when he was mocking her in class and sure enough it was the same one she had experienced under the Dursleys. Whenever Aunt Petunia had called her a freak. Whenever Dudley had picked on her with all his friends. Whenever Uncle Vernon had yelled at her. It was a thread of that same terrible feeling connecting them. Even some of the things Draco Malfoy had said…

“Potter,” Professor Snape hissed, snapping her out of her trip down memory lane. “Do try to stay focused. Examine your feelings later. Getting lost in them at inappropriate times can be a… liability.” Holly blinked. Was Snape giving her occlumency advise? She had to hand it to the man. It was solid advice. “Regardless, can we agree to this new treatment?”

“Yes Sir,” Holly said with a nod.

“Good then I will see you for detention next Saturday afternoon,” Professor Snape said. “Bring your cauldron and potions supplies.”

“Sir?”

“You want to be treated like anyone else and you walked out of one of my classes ignoring teacher directions Miss Potter,” Professor Snape said. “I assume you will be there?”

“I have Quidditch practice…” Holly said before realising her error. Snape was not going to like that excuse.

He gave her a sharp look that made her bite her tongue. “Then let us make it that evening, straight after dinner,” Professor Snape said, and Holly felt her mouth drop open. “If that is all, you are dismissed Potter.”

“There was one more thing Professor,” Holly said, quick to regain her faculties from the near heart attack caused by Snape rescheduling a detention due to Quidditch. She reached into her pocket and produce a small green velvet lined jewellery box. His eyes widened as his lips thinned at the sight of it. “My mother left this behind to me. I believe she wanted me to wear them.” Holly snapped open the box to reveal a pair of green emerald earrings and a small piece of folded parchment in the top of the lid. “I read the note. I know you gave them to her Sir. I would like your permission to wear them or if not offer to return them to you.” She pushed the box towards Snape.

The look in his eyes was unreadable as he stared daggers down upon Holly, but she refused to back down. “Keep them,” he finally stated pushing the box back to her. “Wear them with pride Potter. Your Mother… Lily would want you to have them. They have mild magical protections…”

“I know Sir,” Holly said taking the box back. She took out the folded note and placed it on the desk. “Thank-you.” Holly did not need to be told to leave as she got up and hurried to the door. She pretended not to hear a sniffle from her Potions Professor as he took the note his younger hand had penned.

*

Twitch… twitch… twitch…

Albus Dumbledore looked up once more from his chair. The wind howled around him as he sat atop the astronomy tower. Upon a cushion under the open stormy sky sat his apprentice, Holly Potter. In the distance, thunder sounded as clouds rolled in and lightning flashed over distant mountains. Albus himself had performed the compact weather ritual to turn this once vibrant sunny afternoon into an unscheduled thunderstorm. For this next step in their elemental magic lessons one needed to meditate alongside one’s element. Easy enough to do for something like earth or water. Fire could always be conjured, and air was simply related to the height at which one meditated.

The storm was another matter altogether. It was not just capturing lightning in a bottle or casting a few thunder spells. It required a literal storm. So Albus had brought one for his apprentice to meditate under. Despite this he had observed that she was unsettled. Every so often she would twitch a couple times. He could tell it was not a reaction to the sudden booms of thunder or flashes of lightning. She was not bother by heights or even the wind. She had managed to meditate in Azkaban of all places. This environment should be of no matter to Holly Potter.

Yet, despite this she continued to react every few seconds. This puzzled the wizen old man. He pulled at his beard as he examined the girl. From all accounts her meeting with Professor Snape had gone surprisingly well. Tonks reported that they had made great headway in their own training. Sirius had had a heart to heart with Holly on Friday. Just yesterday he had observed her flying from his office window, having a great time with her friends. Albus wondered what was bothering the girl. As always, the best way to seek answers was to ask.

“Holly?” he questioned, and she snapped her eyes open. “You seem to be having difficulties.”

“Tell me about it,” Holly said with a sigh. “I can feel the storm, hell I can feel my magic reaching out to it but I just can’t focus on that. No matter how hard I try.”

“Could something be affecting your focus? Is there something that has happened or is there something need to talk about? If you need to talk, I have already put up privacy spells around this area.”

“There are a couple things bothering me,” Holly admitted. He gave her a kind nod. “I suppose working out exactly what we are going to do about the Stone and Voldemort has been plaguing my mind.”

“What are your thoughts on that?”

“Well you said it was a trap right? The mirror is a trap for Voldemort?”

“Quite correct,” Albus said. “The spell I cast into it is a very complicated charm related to soul magic. Similar in nature to the Horcruxes. It forms a container for the soul but unlike the Horcruxes it is not an anchor. Rather it is a prison. It works similarly to a Dementor, only it is more subtle. Instead of feeding on hopes or happiness it works on desires which ties it in perfectly with the base enchantments of the mirror. It will take hours to work but if done right Tom should find hist soul trapped in the mirror with the stone on the outside. Without him Quirrell I believe will pass relatively quickly, his body is already dead, Tom is simply allowing him to live as he allows Tom physical form. Without one the other ceases to be.”

“So we should just let that happen right and trap Voldemort?”

“Perhaps. It is up to you Holly. What do you think is best? My hope is that if we contain him for several years, because yes, the prison will fail eventually, we can prepare for his return. I have already accelerated preparations just in case. With Sirius’ money backing me and your own income being added to our war chest this coming summer we actually have a financial leg to stand on. I can start sending out the word subtly, making inroads with the dark creatures Tom will try to ally with and also gathering resources.

“I hope that if the war does come then the Order of the Phoenix will be ready to mobilise. I believe in the last timeline we were working off of too few people with not enough assets or assistance. This time I hope to do things differently. I hope to have an army at your back Holly. I hope to be able to give you the support to finish this fight properly. No small vigilante group held up in your Godfather’s family home. When Tom rises again I want to be able to put him down… for good this time.”

Holly met Albus’ eyes and nodded. She could see that the old man had learned a lot from the first timeline. He was not about to make those mistakes again. “Alas,” Albus said. “No plan is perfect. You saw yourself in the last timeline that my plan to trap Tom did not go well.”

“Only because of my, as Snape would put, Gryffindor foolhardiness,” Holly said with a smirk. “But we’ve eliminated that problem and any actions from Ron or Hermione either. We are good on that front.”

“Be that as it may be. The choice is yours to make. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made in the old timeline was not listening to others or consoling them. If past mistakes do end up repeating themselves this may well be your fight alone once more Holly,” Albus said and watched as the young girl became decisively uncomfortable. “I will fight to ensure it never comes to pass. Till then I offer you my council and advice. If you want me to make a decision I will.”

“We proceed with your plan to trap Tom,” Holly said. “But we must make sure he does not catch wind of this. I have noticed you have been sticking closer to the school then normal. Missing many meetings and only leaving when you are sure no one knows you are out. You need to stop doing that. Tom is clever. He’ll catch onto that and in the last timeline he only made a move when you were gone. So, leave as you would, maybe more often since we have a lot more business to attend to this time around.”

“I had not even noticed that till you pointed it out just now,” Albus mused with a thoughtful hum. “Knowing more of the threat on my doorstep has kept me close by. But you are right I should not be restricting my movements in this way. With you here, Tonks and Sirius not far away, I think the situation is well monitored enough for me to make my usual trips away from the school and maybe a few extra.” His eyes twinkled.

“I have read your proposed changes and I agree to most of them,” Holly said with a nod. “I think we should focus on the current relevant ones for now and worry about the others when we do not have Riddle breathing down our backs.”

“Sensible,” Albus said. “Which shall be first?”

“Unicorns,” Holly said. “Have them moved at the first sign of an attack, before Hagrid even goes searching or anything. Get them away from here and we may deny Voldemort a power source. If it comes down to it, he will be weaker to face in a fight and we may even force his hand to go after the Stone sooner rather than later.”

“I will make what preparations I can without being noticed in that regard,” Albus said. “Is there anything else you wish me to attend to?”

“You may want to line up a Defence teacher to replace Quirrell if we lose him early. You’ll at least want one for next year. I suggest Remus Lupin. Considering who we have next on the list after Quirrelmort he may come in handy and he’s a great teacher.” Holly growled at the thought of the traitorous rat bastard.

“I will need Severus’ assistance if I am to hire Mister Lupin.”

“I think your talk has knocked some sense into him. He may be more amenable to that. Maybe dangle the prospect of him subbing in for Lupin during his time of the month? You know how badly Snape has wanted that job.”

“You are getting to sound almost as manipulative as me,” Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Hard not to be when I know what events are happening around me and what ones need to be avoided at all costs,” Holly snorted. “I’ve gained an even further understanding for the hardships you were under in my old timeline.”

“It is a burden I wish to never put on others,” Albus said with a sigh. “Do you believe you are ready to continue?”

“… no,” Holly said shaking her head. “Something else is wrong. Those were some of my bigger issues but there’s something more. I’m off balance. Distracted. My occlumency mindscape is… scattered. I felt it earlier before with Snape but… I never investigated.”

“May I come in and check it?” Albus said and Holly nodded before making eye contact with the man.

He reached out and knocked politely only to be whisked inside by Holly. It was like waking up inside a dream. Albus found himself standing outside the gates to Hogwarts under a purple sunset sky that never changed. The gates swung open for him, a clear invitation. He strode in alone but knew Holly was here with him. She was everywhere. This was her mind after all. Walking through the familiar grounds he spied the castle in the distance. The once beautiful structure was still under construction as Holly continued to refine her mindscape but what really caught his eyes was a series of holes blown in the walls from the inside out. That was worrying.

“Oh dear, you have been through the wars Holly my girl,” Albus murmured to himself as he strode towards the castle.

“I had not realised it was so bad,” Holly’s voice said coming from everywhere at once. “What’s caused this? You don’t think it was… Voldemort, do you?”

“I doubt if the sliver of Tom’s soul within you would have the strength to do this, let alone even achieve consciousness,” Albus said having already examined the piece beforehand. “No this source of damage comes from elsewhere.” He walked towards the perimeter of the castle and was greeted by Holly’s first line of defence beyond the main gates. Dozens of giant Acromantula circled the castle on near invisible webs set up to catch any intruder that tried to approach.

“Come inside and help me find the cause of this,” Holly said as the spiders parted, and the webs split to allow Albus access.

“See if you can sense the origin of this disturbance and guide me,” Albus advised as he walked the familiar halls of Hogwarts. Holly truly did know this castle off by heart. She had started to recreate it brick for brick. The suits of armour patrolled the castle halls, checking for any intruders, alongside ghosts and portraits who could alert the suits of armour to anything they saw. All in all, Albus was quite impressed with the strong defences Holly had established. He knew she would have more specific and powerful ones deeper within her mindscape, but these were perfect minor guards and watchmen.

“Come to your office Albus,” Holly’s voice said. “I can feel it there. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Albus felt a pull take hold of him and he let it guide him along and up to the third floor. There he came across the familiar gargoyle statue that guarded his office. Only what was a docile inanimate object in the real world, was in here a very real gargoyle that snarled at Albus as he approached. There was a flash of fire as a piece of parchment appeared in Albus’ hand. He pushed up his glasses before glancing down at it. “I open at the close,” he read aloud. The gargoyle jumped aside, and a staircase formed as the parchment burned to ash.

Walking up the staircase he came to his own door and knocked upon it. “Come in Headmaster Dumbledore,” a disturbingly familiar voice said on the other side.

Albus stepped forward to come face to face with himself. He looked older, with a longer and dirtier beard. His eyes looked more aged then ever. Wrinkles upon wrinkles had formed on his face. Albus could see that his twin had a single withered hand, upon which was a ring with the symbol for the Deathly Hollows, and in that hand, he held the Elder Wand out towards Albus. “I wondered when we might meet,” Mental Dumbledore said with a twinkle in is eyes.

“Holly holds me in high regard to make myself a guardian of her mind,” Albus mused as he reached into his robes and withdrew a small pouch. “Lemon Drop?” He offered it to his other self.

“Indeed, and I do not mind if I do,” Mental Dumbledore said reaching out to take a muggle candy. “I have been tasked with guarding two of the most important parts of Holly’s mind.” He gestured to the desk before him as he popped the candy into his mouth.

Albus frowned as he saw two items of note. One was his pensive, full of swirling memories he could not see and the other was a snow globe. Looking closer at the globe he saw it was a very small-scale version of Azkaban. A thunderstorm gathered over the prison island as waves lapped at the shoreline and lightning struck the roof of the prison. Glancing between the two items he looked back up into his older reflection. “Her past?”

“In a way it is her future,” Mental Dumbledore answered. “The future she wishes to never come about. As well as something more within these walls.” He waved his wand at the snow globe and Albus watched as it zoomed in on a small cell. Within which it showed him a naked baby, laying alone and forgotten in the dirty cell. Chains were wrapped around it as dementors kept a close eye upon the fragment of soul belonging to Tome Riddle. “She is waiting for you in here.” Mental Dumbledore was pointing to the pensive.

“I see,” Albus said with one last sad look at the snow globe before leaning towards the pensive. “Make sure to protect these well.”

“Make sure to protect her,” Mental Dumbledore said as Albus plunged into the pensive. “I failed her far too many times. It is your turn now.”

Albus found himself falling into what appeared to be the Hall of Prophecies within the Department of Mysteries. Shelves upon shelves of crystal balls filled the room. Endless lines of Prophecies that reached towards an unseeable ceiling. He lit the way with his wand walking through the rows upon rows of shelves. He knew where to go. The feeling was tugging him forward. As he walked, he saw images within the crystal balls and heard voices. He recognised these as scenes from Holly’s memories. Not just any memories though. They were all from her future.

Eventually he came to a section of shelving that had collapsed. He spied a familiar figure struggling fruitlessly to pick up the scattered crystal balls. It was an eight-year old Holly Potter, undernourished and with the clear signs of mistreatment, that tried her hardest to gather up all the fallen orbs. She would pick up one at a time until she had three in hand only to drop them all as she went for a fourth. Holly cried out and Albus watched as her age reduced from eight to six then to four. Sniffling she continued to try and gather the fallen balls.

“Holly,” Albus said and watched as the little girl flinched, cowering before him.

“Albus,” she murmured glancing up at him from the ground. “Please… you have to help me. I can’t pick them all up. They’ve fallen and I can’t sort them out again. Someone has destroyed my shelves. Help.”

“Oh Holly,” Albus said going down to his knees as he wrapped his arms around the tiny four-year-old. “We can fix this. Let me help.” He pointed his wand at the broken shelves. “ _Reparo_.” The shelves came back together as Dumbledore assisted Holly in straightening up her mind. It was a scratch upon her mindscape, barely a dent, he was more then capable of helping her fix it. “See? All better.” When he looked down at the girl in his arms, he saw a young adult woman looking up at him, tears still trickling down her face. “It’s okay now.” He wiped her face upon his robes.

“Thanks Albus,” Holly said as her mentor helped her to her feet. “I don’t know what happened. None of my defences were breached, not even the ones holding that piece of _him_ but there was still damage radiating out from this point. It’s like someone targeted right here in my memories and it just dominoed from here out to my outer defences.”

“Holly only one person could have done this damage to your mind,” Albus said as he bent down to pick up one of the crystal orbs. Laughter came from the orb and he watched as the scene of a metamorphmagus pulling animal faces at the dinner table played out. Children’s laughter sounded from it, including Holly’s own, before the scene replayed. He looked down to Holly who had a concerned look in her eyes. “Only you could have done this.” He pressed the orb into her hands and watched as a smile came to her face as she relived that memory.

“But Albus,” Holly said turning to the shelf to carefully replace the memory. “Why would I do this to myself? Why would I attack my own mind?”

“We all attack our own minds every day,” Albus explained as he helped pick up a new orb. “Little self-deprecating comments to ourselves, our self-doubts that play over and over in our minds, that little voice in your head that tells you to feel bad about yourself… any time we believe others when they put us down. It all leaves cracks in our minds that need to be healed and patched up. Unknown to your conscious mind you had an emotional storm brewing back here over something… or someone”

He passed Holly the orb he held and watched as the image that played in it showed a spiky-haired woman assist Holly in packing her trunk. “Tonks?” Holly asked with a blink of her eyes as her first interaction with the woman played out. She shook her head before placing the orb back in its proper place. “But why would I be upset over Tonks? We had a really fun time last night and I think I like her more then ever. Why would I be upset over her?”

“Feelings are rarely so logical or easily explained,” Albus said as he plucked another orb from the ground. He glanced at this one before passing it to Holly. It showed Tonks atop a washing machine giggling as she showed off her wedding ring to Holly before Holly glanced over to Remus Lupin who looked sullen and worn down. “Jealousy and envy are terrible emotions. But they, like any emotion, make us human.” He flicked out his wand and caught a slivering trail of silver that was trying to hide behind one of the shelves. Pulling the wisp of a memory forward and up into the air he held it before Holly. “As is guilt.”

“This shouldn’t be here,” Holly said watching the memory of last night play out. Just watching it made her feel Tonks’ lips upon her cheek once more. The memory was so vibrant within her mind it was like reliving it all over again. “This memory is a past memory of the new timeline. It shouldn’t be down here.”

“I believe this might be the cause of your emotional storm and the damage dealt in here. Did you sort this memory yet Holly?” Albus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No I was leaving it for later,” Holly said blushing as she looked between the orb and the silvery wisp. Two memories. Both with very conflicting emotions. Both about the same woman. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Memories have never come into conflict like this within my mindscape.”

“An unorganised mind is a dangerous one Holly,” Albus said looking at the orbs. “Now that we have the cause of this perhaps you can clean up.”

Holly nodded before producing her own wand and setting about restoring the orbs to their proper place. The last orb she placed was the one of Tonks showing off her wedding ring and she still gave it a final guilty look before turning back to Albus. “Now that we have caught it what do we do with it?” Holly said looking at the memory wisp held by Albus’ wand.

“The first step of occlumency is to find a place for each and every memory,” Albus said with a smile. “Somewhere this memory can cause you no more trouble would be good.”

“I might have a few places to lock it away.”

“May I suggest someplace?”

“Of course.”

“Keep it close on hand,” Albus said and Holly blinked in surprise. “Love is a valuable memory to keep a hold of.” He waved his wand and formed the strand of silvery liquid into a silver locket upon a thin chain. “Keep it as close to your heart as you can.” He held the necklace out to Holly.

“I don’t know about that…” Holly said feeling her face light up red within her mind as she took the locket in hand. She gasped as the faintest memory of that moment trickled into her mind and she felt herself be filled with warmth just by holding it. “I don’t know how I feel about Tonks. There are so many emotions involved around anyone I know from the old timeline. Her and Lupin… and their son. They had a son. My Godson.”

“Holly love is rarely so clear cut or convenient,” Albus said. “It causes a storm no matter where it goes. One way or another you care deeply for Nymphadora and from what I have seen she may feel the same way about you.” He eyed the locket. “These memories from the other timeline are irrelevant to your thoughts upon the woman.” He gestured around the room. “They can guide us, but they should not dictate our actions. Especially in matters of the heart.” Holly remained looking unconvinced. “Think of it this way Holly. You saved Sirius from Azkaban, we are going to prove his innocents and save him from the fate of your old timeline, correct?”

“Yeah we are,” Holly said with a firm nod.

“Then do you think he is going to sit idly by and not affect this world further?” Albus asked. “Do you think he will not interact with others and change their relationships. Everything we do influences the people around us and changes how they view each other. If Sirius fell deeply in love with someone and they loved him back, but you knew in the old timeline that they had loved another… would you deny them the chance at true love?”

“Of course not,” Holly said shaking her head.

“Then why would you deny yourself?”

That left Holly without an answer to give. Once more Albus had beaten her on matters of the heart. She simply smiled at him and slipped the locket around her neck, tucking it in under her shirt. Now no one could take that memory away from her as it rested alongside her heart. “I’m ready to leave now,” Holly said offering a hand out to Albus. “Thank-you.”

“Anytime my girl, anytime,” Albus said as he took the young woman’s hand.

He could still feel the turmoil deep within Holly. His words had merely put it to rest for now. It would not stay dormant forever. Of all the changes to the timeline they had caused so far. This was by far Albus’ favourite. The possibility of love was always worth fighting for. No matter the odds. He smiled to himself as he and Holly returned to the real world, the storm still raging above them. But the one within Holly’s head had calmed even as the fire in her heart started anew. Holly would fall easily into her meditation now. A secret smile remained upon her lips long into the evening as a certain memory lingered on within her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s a thing that happened between Holly and Tonks. I have always enjoyed that pairing and mused about making it happen in this story during third year or elsewhere down the track. I was not expecting it to come up so soon but it felt right as I was writing the scene and they touched on something that is important to both of them and myself, body image. I hope I did alright with this, it took me by surprise but I am very pleased with this chapter.
> 
> Feedback and comments are always appreciated.


	7. Strange Bedfellows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly attends her detention with Snape and lessons continue as normal. Conflict brews between Ron and Hermione over problems with their pets and Holly is left to try and fix that. Meanwhile, Neville falls into a dangerous partnership with everyone’s favourite two faced Professor while Holly is distracted by her developing relationship with Tonks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this story has been interesting. I think it is the most I have written on one story ever. Part of that credit must go to trying to meet my deadline of weekly updates and although I am usually late, this chapter being no exception, I feel like I am keeping to good, regular updates. Anyway, enough of my blabbering, on with the story.

**Chapter 07:** Strange Bedfellows

The second week of classes went over far more smoothly. There were few questions over why Holly had scarlet or ocean green hair or why it would be longer or shorter throughout the day. It seemed that news had travelled fast from those who overheard Holly’s conversation in the common room. The Hogwarts rumour mill at work. Holly found herself doing a lot more unconscious changing of her features. Tonks claimed it was because she had finally given those muscles a good work out and it would settle down as she learned to control her ability further. Holly enjoyed the unusual colours and sometimes even styles her hair would adopt. She preferred to change it back when she could. Having a new style and colour every other hour was more Tonks’ forte anyway.

Throughout the week she had had more lessons with Tonks and Sirius on spells and magical politics. Sirius was an expert on the politics of the magical world as well as the tone of etiquette that came with being an Heiress of two noble houses. He had been trained from birth, after all, to become the next Head of the Black family. Tonks knew her own fair share as her mother had passed on lessons to her that in retrospect she appreciated; not that she would ever let her mother know that. Holly’s magical channels continued to open but their growth was slowing down after the initial burst. So instead of learning more magically intense spells they started looking further afield then just the Hogwarts curriculum. Sirius knew some interesting pranking spells and Tonks had her own collection of useful charms or embarrassing jinxes she had discovered over the years.

It was as the week was coming to an end that Holly felt herself feeling both nervous and excited for her lessons with Tonks. The two had not had time alone since the end of their last lesson and the tension between them was palatable. Sirius had clearly picked up on it and given them each knowing looks before smiling smugly to himself. That was almost worse than his usual ribbing. Tonks herself tried hard to play it off, but Holly could tell the woman was affected by it. She was easier to embarrass around Holly, often losing control of her shape changing, and Holly had caught the woman staring when she thought no one was not looking at her. She wanted so badly to talk to Tonks about this.

First, though was the small matter of Snape’s detention. Holly finished up her dinner in the Great Hall. Quidditch practice had been great today. The whole team seemed inspired by Holly’s ramped up performance and were going all out. Oliver was so proud he almost missed an easy save towards the end of the practice. As she excused herself, Holly saw Ron and Hermione eyeing each other. They were still worried about Snape and no matter how many times Holly had reassured them that it was fine they still insisted on accompanying her. Holly had reluctantly agreed that they could be nearby if she needed help, but she would face Snape alone.

Making her way up to the common room with Ron and Hermione trailing behind, she picked up her cauldron and potions supplies before heading back down. Walking through the secret passages and dodging trick stairs was a walk in the park for Holly. Ron and Hermione were still amazed when she led them through the ones they had not known about. She had to make sure to tell them when to skip a stair every so often. In record time for the trio they travelled from the Gryffindor Tower to the dungeons. Holly bid her friends goodbye as they took up residency within an abandoned class room. Hermione produced her homework while Ron pulled out the chess book on occlumency.

“Enter,” Snape said when Holly knocked on the door of the potions classroom. “Set up at a desk Potter and I will be with you in a moment.”

Holly did as instructed as Snape finished writing upon a piece of parchment. He got up and made his way over to her before placing the parchment in front of her. “Read this carefully and make those preparations,” Snape said as he retreated from the desk. “I will gather the other needed ingredients.”

“Yes Sir,” Holly said looking over the list of instructions. Snape walked into the potions supply room as Holly eyed the list with a frown. It was ingredients and steps to a potion she had never brewed before. The potion was not titled, and each step was surprisingly easy alone but together they looked rather arduous. The ingredients were unusual and in large quantities. Reading over them once more Holly was distinctly reminded of the little notes written in her sixth-year potions textbook. She wondered if this potion recipe was contrived by Snape himself. He at least adjusted the method to suit his own unique style of brewing.

“Are you ready to begin brewing Potter?” Snape said as he arrived back in the room with a box full of different ingredients.

“Yes Sir,” Holly said as the man placed the box on her desk. “May I inquire as to what we are brewing?”

He frowned at Holly. “Tonight, you will be making a Replenishment Potion. The steps are simple but must be done precisely and without delay between them. The ingredients are expensive so do not make mistakes and waste what precious ingredients we have available,” Snape said before pausing for a moment. His frown dropped as he made eye contact with Holly. “If you are unsure about a step or require assistance… let me know. I will be grading papers.” And with that he turned, robes billowing before stalking back to his desk.

Holly immediately set to work. She had never really enjoyed brewing potions. Even without Snape as a teacher or with this new, slightly less harsh and unfair Snape. It reminded her too much of cooking, an activity she dreaded at the best of times. There were too many memories of the Dursleys’ rage at her for messing up the meals they forced her to slave over. She shuddered as she lit up the burner, remembering one particular moment where her Aunt had had her hold her hand upon the burner after overcooking the bacon. She had cried all morning as she was forced to work out in the garden, despite her blistered hand. Holly was thankful that her accidental magic had healed the burn, but she could still remember the raw skin across the palm of her hand.

Fighting back her memories she set about preparing her ingredients as the cauldron was pre-heated. Without Snape looming over her to remind her of it she could tune out her past. She focused solely on dicing and cutting the ingredients before measuring out exact increments. Despite the terrible memories from the experience cooking had given her a good bases for potion making. Even if she still hated both activities, she could do them well. It took her a couple hours but when she finally turned down the burner and set the potion to simmer, she was proud of her work. Wiping the sweat from her brow she looked up to see Snape eyeing her.

“Acceptable work Potter,” he said, which was high praise from the man indeed. “Pack away your things and return any left-over ingredients to the storage room. I will watch over your potion while you are gone.”

Holly merely nodded, too tired to speak as she gathered her things together before packing the ingredients back into the box. One quick trip to and from the storage room later and she saw Snape now standing over her cauldron. He had turned the heat off and was bottling a sparkling blue potion into dozens of tiny vials. “Sir?” Holly asked as she approached. Snape did not look up from his work as he carefully poured very precises amounts into each vial, but he did hum an acknowledgement. “What do Replenishment Potions do?”

“Cure magical fatigue,” he answered simply. “They promote the core to recharge while clearing and widening seized up magical channels. The effects are temporary and have diminishing returns if separate doses are taken too soon together. Similarly, the precise amount of potion is critical for each dose. Hence why you can see I am very carefully measuring these out.”

“I see,” Holly said her voice perking up. Suddenly she was a lot more interested in this potion. “What are you going to do with all those vials of Replenishment Potion?” If she could just get her hands on a few of them for emergencies…

“These potions are going straight to the hospital wing where they will be inventoried, and all of them will be accounted for. Do not get any ideas Miss Potter,” Snape said, glancing up at her. “I have an exact number of vials to fill as has been requested of me by Madam Pomfrey. If all was brewed correctly this should be just enough for…” His speech stopped as he filled the last vial before frowning at the remnants of the potion left in the cauldron. He flicked his wand and summoned forth an extra vial before filling it. He grasped the piece of parchment and shook his head. “It appears I made a slight error in my dosage levels. You can go clean out your cauldron and leave Miss Potter.”

Holly frowned as she watched him gather up the vials and leave her desk. He left behind the extra vial along with the recipe for the potion. “Professor you left behind…”

“I took what I need Potter,” Snape snapped back. “Anything left behind is your mess to do with as you like.” He hurried from the room before Holly could comment further.

Holly sighed as she took her cauldron over to the sink. Snape’s behaviour had always puzzled her, even once she understood his motives, but this new Snape was just… bizarre. He took house points from students left right and centre as usual but this time he did not spare the Slytherins, nor did he take points for no reason. This removed the artificial inflation of the Slytherin house points and actually forced his students to mind their behaviour and work hard in class or miss out on winning the house cup. He had also stopped standing over students so much and making them feel under pressure. He was stricter and tougher than McGonagall but at least he did not put anyone in unnecessary stress.

Despite this he still picked on students that messed up their potions. Neville copped his wrath almost every lesson. The poor boy was still a nervous wreck in the class and unable to brew to save his life for fear of suffering more verbal humiliation from Snape. At least he was not alone in this. Crabbe and Goyle were frequent repeat offenders and even the other occasional Gryffindor or Slytherien student would cop a tongue lashing for making a mistake or two. Overall his teachering had improved along with the slight attitude adjustment and most students were now doing a lot better. Even Snape seemed generally happier. Ron swore he had caught the man smiling at breakfast one morning.

“Thank-you Professor,” Holly said to the empty air as she pocketed the vial of Replenishment Potion and grabbed the recipe. If this was how Snape wanted to show his kindness than Holly was okay with it. She had no idea exactly how he knew she was in need of this potion. Perhaps he had guessed simply from the fact she was training under Dumbledore or maybe he had seen the signs of magical exhaustion upon her after a long session with one of her trainers, but she was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

*

“You’re late.”

“Sod off Tonks,” Holly said collapsing onto the couch. “I’m so tired I could sleep for a week.”

“I thought you said detention with Snape was not going to knock you out for the night?” Tonks asked with a frown as she walked around the Room of Requirement towards the couch Holly was upon.

“That was before I knew he would have me brewing the longest potion I have ever brewed in my life,” Holly groaned as she turned around on the couch. “The fumes alone dried out my eyes and I still can’t smell anything. So many little adjustments and additions…”

“Oh you poor, poor thing,” Tonks said in a babying voice as she picked up a cushion off one of the chairs. “Get up and let’s get to it.” She threw the cushion into Holly’s face. “We’ve already lost most of the evening and you’re not the only one that has had a hard day.” She flicked her wand at Holly. “Clothes expansion charm is on you. Let’s go, go, go.”

Holly sighed heavily into the cushion upon her face before brushing it aside and sitting up. She looked at Tonks with a smile only to catch side of the woman. Her hair was a muted grey and eyes a sad blue. “Tonks… what’s wrong?”

“I…” Tonks sighed before plonking down into the couch aside Holly. “I ran into some dementors today.”

“You ran into what?”

“Dementors,” Tonks said. “I was out as Sirius doing the usual when I felt the coldness come over me. I didn’t think anything of it. Just a chill in the air or something.” She shrugged. “By the time I worked out that my warming charms were not working… they were already atop me.”

“Are you okay?” Holly said wrapping an arm around the woman and pulling her into an embrace.

“I’m fine,” Tonks said in a tone that Holly was familiar with. That was her own ‘I’m fine’ lie. “I fought them off with my patronus. No big deal. Not even the first time I have faced dementors. I handled them.” Despite her assurances she did not break the hug, if anything she leaned further into it.

“Tonks… you’ve seen my memories,” Holly said. It felt awkward to have such a larger woman wrapped around her like this, so Holly let herself change into her natural form. She was still a good deal smaller than Tonks but it did not feel like she was a little kid compared to the fully grown woman. “You know I struggle with dementors. You can talk about this with me.”

Tonks buried her head in Holly’s shoulder. To Holly’s surprise she felt the woman shudder and then sob. Holly had never done well with crying girls. Even putting aside the Cho incident. She bit her bottom lip as she reached up and ran a hand through Tonks’ hair. She felt the woman tense for a moment before relaxing into Holly’s touch. The tears flowed freely from Tonks as Holly just stroked her hair and held her close. Eventually she watched as the pink returned to Tonks’ hair, though streaks of grey remained. “Thanks,” Tonks said with a sniff as she leaned back but did not break the embrace. Her eyes were back to their normal dark colour. “Shit this is embarrassing…”

“Hardly,” Holly said rolling her eyes with a grin. “You only broke down after facing one of the most feared beings in the world. That’s expected. Look at me? I go near catatonic around those monsters.”

“I see your point,” Tonks said with a sniffle. “But this was different. I’ve seen the future Holly. I’ve seen my own death. I’ve seen the war and the things we’ll have to live through. The things you already have lived through.” Her gaze became distant. “When the dementors came along… that’s all I was left with. That dread and fear. It chilled me to the bone worse than anything else. All I could see were those images over and over again. The dead, the damned, the damaged… my own lifeless corpse and you alone in that darkness. I was paralysed by fear and it almost cost me my soul.”

“I’m so sorry Tonks,” Holly said. “What were dementors doing out there anyway?”

“Hunting for Sirius apparently,” Tonks said shaking her head. “Ministry has lost its bloody mind sending those monsters out into the wild. I thought I would be ducking away from a hit wizard squad at most. Not those monsters.”

The hand around Tonks’ side clenched into a fist. “This is all my fault. I never should have dragged you into this. I should not have let you see my memories or become involved in…”

“Holly James Potter you shut your mouth right this second,” Tonks scolded her. Tonks’ eyes glared at Holly with dark flames behind them. “I choose to get involved in this and I would not take it back. I am going to stand with you till the end and we’ll beat it. Screw the future that could have been. Together we’ll make the one we want to have.”

“Together?” Holly asked her bottom lip trembling.

“You’re not alone in this so stop thinking you are,” Tonks said a smile coming over her face. “Also stop apologising to everyone you git. I’m sure I am not the first to tell this but it’s not your bloody fault.” Holly could not help the smile that came over her face. “Now are we going to work on anything to night or not?”

“Alright,” Holly said sitting up on the couch as she removed her hand from Tonks’ hair. She noticed the woman was now fully back to her head of pink hair. “Are we doing small changes again tonight or something more advanced?”

“I was considering both, but I decided on neither,” Tonks said with a smirk as she produced a deck of cards. “Tonight, I try to teach you how to bullshit your way around things. This lack of an ability to lie is going to get you found out… again.” She shuffled the deck with a gracefulness that was the exact opposite of her usual clumsiness. “Have you ever played poker before?”

“No,” Holly said shaking her head.

“Then we’ll take this really easy,” Tonks said as she started to deal out cards to imaginary people. “I’ll show you a few pretend games first and explain the rules as I go along. We’ll cover things more in-depth after that and maybe play a hand or two between us. The real test will be once I think you have it down that you can handle Friday Poker nights at Mum and Dad’s.” At Holly’s questioning look she elaborated. “Sirius and Mum played a lot as kids and Dad can hold his own. I’ve been playing since I was… well I would say your age but your technically older than me. Either way consider this me not throwing you into the deep end, yeah?”

“Sounds more like not throwing me in with he sharks but yeah,” Holly said rolling up her sleeves. “Show me how to play.”

*

For once in her life Tonks was neither woken by noisy dormmates, her doting mother or her accursed morning person of a roommate. Groaning she refused to open her eyes. She was warm and comfortable. As long as she remained still and with her eyes closed, she may yet be able to drift asleep. She felt a weight upon her chest, something warm and cuddly, something that had a heartbeat that beat in time with her own and something that breathed warm air across her chin. Tonks’ eyes snapped open and she looked down into the sleeping form of Holly Potter.

Memories from the previous night came flying back to her. The poker game had divulged into a late-night round of laughter and drinks provided by the room. Thankfully things were merry between them and the drinking had been more casual so Tonks’s hangover was mild. Even as she thought that she watched as a sobriety potions appeared in the room upon the coffee table. “I love this room,” Tonks murmured quietly as she reached out and grasped the potion. She was very careful not to wake Holly as she drank the potion.

The smaller woman was so cute resting upon Tonks. She snored softly, her head laying against Tonks’ bosom. She had drooled a little in her sleep, but Tonks was not bothered by that. In fact, it made Holly all the cuter. It was lucky that Tonks’ clothes expansion charm had held up but even in her adult form, even with her malnourishment being treated, Holly was still so small. She was this short little ball of softness laying across Tonks. Holly was as adorable as she could be fearsome. That was something Tonks treasured about Holly.

She was not always the grizzled war veteran of her old timeline. More times than not she was a young woman who had missed out on most of her childhood and only wanted everyone to be safe. She could be soft and gentle or hard and strong. Her nature was that of a gentle soul, Tonks had seen enough of her to know that much, but she was as protective as a mama bear and far more deadly. Even physically she was light against Tonks, like a doll lying atop her, but her arms had a strong grasp around Tonks’ waist. That made Tonks feel both wanted and safe within those arms while also like she was covered with the warmest, softest and cuddliest blanket in the whole world.

Tonks shivered as she felt the woman atop her stir only to snuggle deeper into her bosom. As amusing of prospect as it would be to wake Holly now and embarrass her about just what area of Tonks’ chest she was nuzzling into, the idea of laying here forever was far more appealing. Tonks may well have drifted right back to sleep upon this couch if Holly had not started to murmur something. The smaller woman’s body shook, and Tonks tried to listen to the mumbled words she spoke in her sleep.

“… Not Cedric… please not Sirius… no… Albus not again… Dobby!”

Tonks eyes widened. The night terrors. The dreams that plagued Holly in the old timeline, in her memories. The nightmares were back. Tonks gulped. How long had Holly been having these dreams again? Had she even truly stopped having them? “Holly,” Tonks said shaking the girl. “Holly… wake up.”

“Please no!” Holly yelled coming to consciousness as her eyes snapped open and she looked up at Tonks in rage. There was a fire behind her emerald eyes as a boom of thunderous energy radiated out through the room. Pot plants shattered, books were knocked off shelves and armchairs were pushed back as the coals of the fireplace stirred back to life.

“Holly it’s okay… you’re safe,” Tonks said fighting back the immediate urge to run away. She had to remember who was behind those battle-hardened eyes. The sweet, soft, gentle woman who would bend heaven and hell for her loved ones. “You’re with me. None of those dreams have happened. And they never will.” Holly seemed to realise where she was and buried her face back into Tonks’ chest, shaking as she cried. “There, there. It’s okay Holly. Shhhhhh.” She rubbed circles into the small of Holly’s back before reaching up to her hair, running her fingers through those dark locks like Holly had for Tonks the night before. It was an even more tangled mess than usual but as Tonks stroked it, as she soothed Holly, the hair started to straighten out. It was like her heart itself was unclenching in Tonks’ grasp.

“I suppose that was my turn to have a meltdown,” Holly mumbled as she looked up to Tonks.

“If the next few words out of your mouth contain the word ‘sorry’ then keep quiet,” Tonks said before Holly could open her mouth to speak once more. Holly stared up at her silently. “Good. You listen to me Holly Potter. There is nothing to apologise for or be ashamed of. We all need comfort from time to time and we all need to have a good cry. I know I did last night.”

Holly smiled up at Tonks, her cheeks still wet. “Thanks. I think I needed to hear that,” Holly said taking a few calming breaths. She glanced around the room and saw that the damage from her outrage was already being repaired by the room. A large bayside window had appeared within the room before they awoke. Sunlight streamed in through it, falling across their tangled bodies upon the couch, a thick woollen blanket upon them. “We should get up.”

“Not yet,” Tonks said tightening her grasp upon Holly as the woman tried to move off of her. “Just a little longer… please?” She looked up at Holly with big, bright literal puppy dog eyes and Holly knew she was not going anywhere anytime soon. Tonks ruined the effect seconds later when she leaned forward and licked Holly with a puppy dog tongue. They broke into fits of laughter but remained together as the morning sun drifted slowly over their cuddling forms.

*

The month that came filled Holly with highs and lows. Her training continued to alternate between lessons with Dumbledore, Sirius or Tonks. Albus assured Holly she would get it sooner rather than later but control over her elemental magic continued to elude her. Sirius’ lessons became less magic based and even more political based. She felt like they barely picked up a wand in their lessons. There was so many customs and protocols to learn. Tonks’ lessons varied between metamorphmagus training and exercises around ‘bluffing, fibbing and bullshitting your way through life’, as Tonks liked to call them. She had already invited Holly around for the Easter Holidays to her parent’s place for both a celebration and what promised to be Holly’s first Tonks Family Poker Night.

After the lessons Holly noticed that Tonks continued to find reasons for Holly to stay the night with her in the Room of Requirement. Not that Holly minded. They both knew something was building between them. A relationship beyond that of friends or teacher and student. But neither wanted to face that for the moment. They were happy as is. Snuggling on the couch till they fell asleep and waking up together was enough for them right now. They were not the only ones that noticed this. Albus had continued to encourage the relationship in his own subtle way while Sirius could not help giving them knowing glances when they were in the room together.

It was during one of Sirius’ lessons with Holly that he finally talked about the subject she had been dreading. “So,” Sirius had begun, and Holly already felt the dread of what he was about to say. “You and Nymphy seem to be getting along well.”

“She’d cut off your bullocks if she caught you calling her that,” Holly said and was satisfied when her godfather winced before crossing his legs. “But yeah we get on fine.”

“More than fine if my eyes don’t deceive me,” Sirius said with a cheeky grin. “Nor my nose. Got a good whiff of you two as Padfoot the other day and the pheromones between you and her. I just about balled my eyes out. Worse than cutting onions.” Holly rolled her eyes at her godfather’s over exaggerations. “Also, you smell like her every morning after your training. If I did not know any better, I would say that you two were doing a lot more than just training together.”

“We’re not doing whatever it is you are thinking about,” Holly said before her godfather could say anything else. “We spend a lot of physical time together with our metamorphmagus training. Physical contact is useful in guiding me along the changes. Especially with the more complicated stuff we are on now such as height, mass and the size of bodily organs.” Sirius gave her a raised eyebrow look. “… and maybe we like to sleep cuddling each other. It’s just a thing that happened once and… keeps happening. It’s nice… it helps with my nightmares and she… I don’t know what she gets out of it. But that’s all it is. Just cuddling and sleeping together. And not the sleeping together that you are thinking about.” She glared daggers at the man across from her.

“Did you know when your face and hair can’t turn anymore red from embarrassment you start to get freckles over your face?” Sirius asked and chuckled as more freckles appeared upon Holly. “I swore your mother got most of her freckles after James started flirting with her. Looks like an Evans family trait… only with your metamorphmagus blood they happen a lot faster than over the course of a year.”

Holly groaned and looked to the ceiling of Albus’ office. She was just glad Tonks was not here to be a part of this. Holly might never have been able to show her face again. Tonks was currently away on another Sirius Black escapade. Ever since the dementor incident and the threat of the Ministry actively tracking her, Holly had insisted Tonks take her invisibility cloak with her on these missions. She had gone so far as to make the woman promise to never go on them without the cloak again. Moody might well have already taught Tonks the Disillusionment Charm but Holly felt a lot safer when Tonks had the cloak.

According to Albus the cloak protected the wearer unlike any other of its kind. The only two people to ever see through it in the old timeline was Albus himself and Moody. Albus thanks to the Elder Wand being able to overcome the fellow Deathly Hollow. Moody was able to see through the cloak for a similar reason. His magical eye had been a present from Dumbledore that was enchanted with the magic of the Elder Wand itself. By all accounts only the wand could best the cloak but even Albus admitted to not knowing all the secrets of the Hollows. Holly wondered what other things the Wand, the Stone and the Cloak could do. She had held all of them at one stage and knew there was an untapped power within them. Unfortunately, she had never had the time to explore that before needing to secure the Wand.

“Holly?” Sirius said bringing her back to the present. “You spaced out there for a moment. Were you thinking of a certain special some…” Holly made an obscene hand gesture at the man. “… thing?”

“Can we please just go back to the lesson?” Holly asked with a sigh.

“Sure thing,” Sirius said. As much as he liked to tease and poke his nose in where it did not belong, he knew when to ease off. “As I was saying, traditional ways to deal with disputes between mages included duels. And they are still valid within our culture and society today. Hence why we still practice the art of duelling despite often being a set of useless skills in actual combat. Now days they are also a sport with exhibition matches, tournaments and even whole duelling circuits. Hogwarts used to have a tournament for the Duellist Cup back in the day.”

“What sort of disputes are these duels used to settle?” Holly asked.

“Anything and everything as long as the two parties agree to it,” Sirius said with a shrug. “Legal matters, social disagreements, political negotiations, monetary disagreements… as long as two mages agree to the terms before the duel and seal it with magic than it acts as a magical binding contract. The most common usage had always been and still is for matters of honour. These duels are called Honour Duels and come about after one party has repeatedly disrespected the other. The outcomes of these duels have ramifications of the social statuses of the dualists and their families. There are great political manoeuvres involving these duels but they can also be used to flex on another magical family or declare alliances between families by standing as a second or champion for the duellist.”

“I’m surprised Malfoy never challenged me to one,” Holly mused. “The only duel he ever challenged me too he backed out of and tried to set me up to get caught after curfew.”

“To challenge you to a real Honour Duel would be to declare his position within the family, probably as Malfoy Heir, which if he has not gotten permission from his father to do would really piss off old Lucius,” Sirius explained. “Nearly as much as losing such a duel to someone the Malfoy family considers lower on the purity of blood totem pole.”

“Glad to know Draco’s chain is held taught by daddy dearest,” Holly said snickering.

“Nevertheless don’t go around starting duels, stepping in as people’s champions or agreeing to second people in a duel without a good understanding of what is being fought over,” Sirius said, his voice losing the mirth as he lived up to the pun in his name. “Honour Duels are one thing, but you could lose your Heirship over agreeing to certain duels. We’ll cover more details in further lessons, but the basics are, know what you are agreeing to before you agree to a duel.”

There was a flash of green from the fireplace in the office and Holly’s head turned around so fast Sirius thought she might snap her neck. He watched as her mouth fell open in a little ‘o’ shape of disappointment as the pink haired woman she was expecting did not step through from the flames. Rather the familiar form of Albus Dumbledore walked into his office. He had a worried look upon his face as his gaze turned to Sirius and Holly. “I have just been to the Ministry,” Albus said. He reached for his pouch of lemon drops.

“And?” Sirius prompted.

“I have been told in no uncertain terms that dementors will be placed around the boundaries of Hogwarts and a Hit Wizard team appointed to Hogsmeade,” Albus explained before popping a candy into his mouth. “It seems they have figured out where Sirius Black is headed towards.”

“And they insisted on placing the dementors?” Holly asked. Her breath caught in her throat.

“They wanted to place them within the school grounds and assign the Hit Wizard team as personal bodyguards for you Holly,” Albus answered shaking his head grimly. “This was the best I could do. They had the school board on their side. Minister Fudge had riled them up into a righteous fury though I suspect Lucius Malfoy had a hand in matters. They are terrified that Voldemort’s right-hand Death Eater is on the loose and headed after you Holly.”

“Malfoy knows I was no Death Eater,” Sirius murmured. “He probably wants them to kiss me on sight and be done with.”

“The order for which has been placed,” Albus said sighing heavily as he came to his own chair and slumped into it. “Our plans for Wormtail may have to take a backseat… we had hoped that the Ministry would not react this aggressively with me assuring them I was protecting and training Holly.”

“No way,” Sirius said standing straight up. “The traitor needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later. We need to keep the pressure up. If anything, we need to double down on the plan. When’s the next Hogsmeade weekend? I think Padfoot needs to make a couple appearances to the students and cause a little trouble. Tales of a large black dog should reach his ears before long.”

“The Valentine’s Day one has just passed,” Albus answered. His eyes darted from Sirius over to Holly and they shared a concerned look. “The next will not be till before the Easter Holidays.”

“Then I am coming to Holly’s Quidditch match later this week,” Sirius said. He caught the look Holly and Albus were sharing. “I can’t sit back and be out of danger forever. We need to do this if we want Wormtail to be properly terrified and act like he did last time. Besides, didn’t I show up in the original timeline to a match? Repeating that seems like a good idea if we want Wormtail to stay on track.”

“I can’t persuade you to not go, can’t I?” Holly asked and got a shake of the head in return. “Fine but on one condition… Tonks goes with you under my invisibility cloak, ready to pull you out of there if worse comes to worse.”

“I will additionally provide you a portkey that bypasses the wards for emergency use,” Albus said and watched as Holly visibly relaxed.

“While we have time before that Hogsmead weekend let’s also work on your patronus charm,” Holly suggested. “Just in case you get into trouble with the dementors. I should probably work on mine too. I’ve already got the summoning charm mastered better than I ever did in my original timeline.”

“Excellent,” Sirius said with a feral grin. “Now all we need is Crookshanks’ cooperation and Albus’ side of the plan…” He looked at the old man.

“It is coming along,” Albus said. “If all goes well, I will have it done a few weeks after Easter.”

“We should probably wait for Voldemort to make a move first,” Holly said biting her bottom lip. “But if we get a good opportunity, I say we take it.”

They all agreed, and Holly soon bid her goodbyes as they hour was getting late. Holly had become quite good at sneaking around the castle with the map alone since Tonks had her cloak more nights than most. She knew that the woman would return it to her soon enough and was honestly glad of that. It was another opportunity to get Tonks alone for a few moments. She smiled to herself as she walked back into the common room. She could not help but feel that there was something she was missing. Was something else not meant to happen around now? All thought of this was stripped from her mind as she walked into a war zone.

“Get that bloody thing away from me,” Ron screamed as he held a familiar rat high in the air.

“Crookshanks! Bad boy,” Hermione shouted as she tried to drag the cat away from Ron.

Holly could see that Crookshanks had already scratched Ron’s hand, blood dribbling down his robes as the cat hissed loudly. Maybe they were more set up for dealing with Wormtail than they realised, Holly mused as she pulled out her wand. Crookshanks looked ready to break free from Hermione’s grasp at any moment and make another go at the rat. “ _Petrificus Totalus_ ,” Holly said waving her wand at the cat. As much as she wanted the rat bastard dealt with, now was not the time and place. Far too many vermin sized escape routes around here or people to take hostage.

Crookshanks’ limbs snapped into place against his body and he fell into a fluffy cylinder shape. “Crookshanks!” Hermione cried out as she cuddled the cat close. “Are you okay?”

“Is… is he okay?” Ron thundered, outrage clear in his voice. “What about Scabbers?” He held the squeaking rat out. “And what about me? You’re little monster attacked my pet. He scratched me!”

At this point Holly had a chance to survey the rest of the common room. Everyone else still up at this hour were cowering away from the argument as Ron and Hermione lay into each other. “He’s a cat Ron!” Hermione yelled back. “What do you expect him to do?”

“None of the other cats do this to Scabbers,” Ron said. “None of the others attack him. And your cat is supposed to be smart right? Half-nazelthing or something right?” He continued on even as Hermione murmured ‘Kneazle’ under her breath. “Well if it’s so smart than why does it attack Scabbers? It’s a murderer Hermione.”

“He is not,” Hermione wailed picking up her stiff cat. “You never even liked Scabbers to begin with.”

“So just because I don’t like him, does that mean your cat can just murder him? For no reason? He’s fed. You feed him. He doesn’t need to murder Scabbers for food. He’s just a cold-hearted monster. I never liked him either to begin with… does that mean we get to murder him to? Because I don’t like him?” Ron ranted at Hermione. With each word the bushy-haired girl backed further and further away from him as he advanced upon her.

“He is not a monster, and don’t you dare harm a hair on his back,” Hermione screamed as she cuddled Crookshanks close to her chest. Before Ron could say another word, she turned on her heels and bolted up the staircase to the girl’s dorms.

“You keep him away from Scabbers or else I’ll do worse than harm a hair on his back!” Ron shouted up the stairs as he turned around to eye the rest of the dorm. “Bloody hell.”

“Ron,” Holly said stepping forward. She had been chewing her bottom lip the whole time this argument had been going on. She had wanted to do something, but she had known better than to walk into the middle of that one.

“Can you believe her trying to defend that monster?” Ron asked, aghast. “After it tried to kill Scabbers and almost took off my bloody finger. Look at my hand? I think I can see bone.”

The cuts were long but nowhere near as deep as Ron was making them out to be. “Ron, you’re fine and so is Scabbers,” Holly said folding her arms over her chest as she stared at the rat in question. She was glad Tonks had taught her how to keep a straight face because right now she was feeling far more murderous towards this rat than Crookshanks ever had. “Hermione was right in what she said. Cats will eat rats. Its nature.” Ron frowned at Holly. “But she was not right to say it. She should not have said half the things she just did but than again neither should you. Both of you were high on emotions and said things neither of you meant. You know in your heart Ron that you could never harm a creature like that for doing something that is part of its nature. You know it doesn’t mean to harm Scabbers out of malice or anything. And you are not that cruel.”

“I might be if that _thing_ dare tries it again,” Ron murmured as he clutched Scabbers’ to his chest.

“Occlumency Ron,” Holly said shaking her head. “Remember to use it?” He nodded and Holly watched as he visibly started to settle while focusing on the mental techniques. “Listen calm down and go get your hand cleaned up. I’ll talk to Hermione and see about getting something to help keep Scabbers safe. I know you are angry at Hermione but remember she’s not the only one at fault here… I got her Crookshanks and I’m sorry that he went after Scabbers.”

“That’s okay mate,” Ron said. His shoulders slumped as his grasp on the terrified rat relaxed. “I don’t blame you for the actions of that cat and… I shouldn’t blame Hermione either. But the fact that she refuses to acknowledge that her cat is in the wrong…”

“It’s frustrating, isn’t it?” Holly asked and got a nod in return. “Yeah she’s wrong about that. Crookshanks is to blame.” And clearly needs another talking to from Sirius, Holly mentally added, because this is far too soon to happen now. Then again. Things were already moving faster so maybe this was more on time than she thought. “Listen Hermione did the wrong thing in not owning up for her pet being in the wrong… but if she had, would that have helped your anger at all?”

“Maybe,” Ron answered, unconvincingly. “I don’t even know why I am so pissed. She was right. I have never liked Scabbers.” He held the rat up to his face. “But even though I don’t like him… I…”

“Love him?” Holly asked and got a nod in return.

“Yeah… he’s just always been here for me, you know?”

“I get it. Same thing with me and Hedwig. She’s mine. I can talk to her about things that I can’t talk to anyone else.” Ron nodded at this as he smiled down at Scabbers. “I’m going to go up and talk to Hermione. You alright?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Ron said glancing over to Holly. “Thanks Holly. I’m still royally pissed off, even with those occlumency skills helping me but I think I can cool off now.”

“No worries Ron and remember that although Hermione was in the wrong, she’s still your friend,” Holly said.

“Ha… reminds me of my family,” Ron chuckled shaking his head. “We can get rightly annoyed at one another and even do horrible things to each other. But at the end of the day we are still family and we still love each other.”

“Well spoken,” Holly said clapping Ron on the shoulder before she disappeared upstairs.

“ _Finite Incantatem_ … come on… _Finite Incantatem_.”

Holly walked in on Hermione repeatedly attempting to undo the Full-Body-Bind Curse that Holly had put on Crookshanks. “Ease off Hermione,” Holly said stepping forward as she brought out her own wand. She could see that the girl had The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 open upon her bed. Was Hermione doing some reading ahead? Probably. “You’ll put yourself into a magical exhaustion coma if you keep trying to power through that. Here let me. _Finite_.” She flicked her wand dismissively and Crookshanks unfroze. He hissed at Holly before scampering under the bed.

“Oh Crookshanks,” Hermione said her voice still wobbly. “Come out from under there.”

“Let him sulk for a while Hermione,” Holly said as she plonked down upon the girl’s bed. “We need to talk.”

“How did you counter that spell so easily?” Hermione asked sniffing once as she closed her book and refused to look at Holly. “I know I was doing the general counter-spell right.”

“Not what we need to talk about but if you must know it’s because you needed to match the power used to cast the spell or at least cast enough counter-spells with equivalent power,” Holly explained. She reached out and grasped Hermione’s hand. “Look at me Hermione.” Their eyes met and Holly could see the redness from Hermione’s crying. “What the hell was that down there?”

“Crookshanks tried to eat…”

“Not what happened before I arrived,” Holly snapped. She had been angry with Hermione about this the first time around and it was all coming back to her now. “I meant after that. Do you want to lose one of the two friends you have managed to make here?”

“No…”

“Well than what the bloody hell do you think you are doing? Your cat tried to kill Ron’s rat.”

Hermione flinched at this and tried to pull her hand out of Holly’s grasp but Holly held on tight. “He’s a cat. Of course he tried to…”

“I know, you know, and even Ron knows that yes, it is his nature to want to hunt rats,” Holly interjected once more. “But you can’t say the things you did to Ron. You can’t tell him that just because he doesn’t like his rat it deserves to die. You can’t defend your cat when it is clearly the aggressor here. And you can’t throw his friendship away just because you can’t admit that you are wrong about the nature of your cat.”

“But Crookshanks is not a murderer.”

“He’s a predator which in the animal world is the same thing.”

“I know… but I don’t like it,” Hermione said her bottom lip wavering. “I love him so much Holly. I always wanted a cat as a pet. I once tried to take in a stray… but my parents would not have it. Made me put her back out on the streets. Anytime anyone says anything bad about him or even implies it… I want to defend him to the ends of the world. And when Ron came at me accusing Crookshanks like that… I just dug in and stood my ground.” Hermione broke into full ugly sobs now. “Holly what do I do? I didn’t mean for it too get so bad. I was so upset and angry.”

“Slow deep breaths Hermione,” Holly said as she pulled the girl onto the bed and wrapped her arms around her. She had gotten remarkably well at comforting women with Tonks around. And being comforted for that matter. “Focus on your occlumency. Put yourself into your calm place within your mind.” Holly watched as it took longer for Hermione to find that place within her mind than it took Ron. She suspected it was because Hermione’s mind tended to race on all cylinders and therefore found it harder to not be distracted by other thoughts in her occlumency mindscape. “Better?”

“Yeah,” Hermione said with a nod. She reached up and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve.

“Now you are going to pull yourself together and go down and apologise to Ron, alright?” Holly asked and Hermione nodded stiffly. “You will not make excuses for your own actions or those of Crookshanks’ and you will promise to try and stop this from happening again. You will explain to him your mistake and ask his forgiveness. If he asks for time you will respect that and leave him be. Understood?”

“Yes Holly,” Hermione said with a weary look as she broke the embrace and stood up. “And thank-you. I’ve never been great at making friends and keeping them seems to be one of my weak points as well. I appreciate your guidance.” She took a deep breath and went to go speak to Ron.

Holly got up from Hermione’s bed and fell into her own. Guidance? When had Holly become the sensible one of their group? When had she turned into the one that could advise them what to do and offer sensible solutions to complicated emotional and social problems? Probably over the almost two decades she spent growing up compared to Ron and Hermione in this timeline, Holly mused. She truly was an adult surrounded by children. Even Sirius was better put together than Ron and Hermione and he acted like the biggest child there was. Holly could not wait till the teenage hormones came along. What a joy that would be.

She barely had the energy to flick her wand to close her curtains let alone think about undressing or crawling under the sheets. She sighed into her pillow as the fatigue of the day overcame her. Not only had she had a full day of classes but Quidditch practice followed by Sirius’ lessons and now this mess, but the evening before had been elemental magic lessons with Albus and she still felt the drain from reaching out with her magic to the storm. As consciousness was slipping from her mind, she once more had the distinct impression she was forgetting something. Oh right. Oliver had told the team today that Snape was refereeing the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. She had meant to tell Hermione and Ron… but did she really want to deal with them again after this? Holly did the wise thing and fell fast asleep.

*

Elsewhere in the castle, Neville Longbottom grimaced as he hoped along. Draco Malfoy had cursed him. He had tried to do what everyone had encouraged him to do and stand up for himself. He had even managed to outdraw Malfoy and hit him with a good stinging jinx that staggered the Slytherien boy for a moment. But Crabb and Goyal had quickly grabbed him by his arms and held him steady as Draco practiced the Leg-Locker Curse upon him. It had taken a couple tries but eventually Draco had managed to spell Neville’s legs together. He had also thrown Neville’s wand down the hall before stalking away with his cronies in the opposite direction.

Neville had considered pulling out his father’s wand and jinxing them in their back. He had wanted to so badly. A voice almost called at him to do it but another part of him made him shrink away in fear. In a fair duel Neville might have been able to take Draco but there was little chance for that. If he had of attacked them then they would have just come back and ganged up on him once more. Hopping down the hall, he had managed to retrieve his wand and then spent a couple minutes trying to stand up after falling on his face. He dreaded the idea of hopping all the way back to the common room but what other option did he have left? He did not know the counter-spell for this curse.

A thought came to mind. There was another option. There was somewhere closer. Someone who would not laugh at him like the other Gryffindors or ask him embarrassing questions like most of the teachers. Neville hopped in the opposite direction of the common room. Instead he came towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts Office. Reaching the door, he paused a moment to catch his breath. Hopping around like this was hard work. He wondered how Holly managed to run all those laps around the Quidditch pitch every day and then did more on the weekends. Reaching towards the door he hoped Professor Quirrell was in.

“No… no… not again… please.”

Neville froze as he heard Quirrell’s voice, begging for mercy from someone.

“I’ll do what you want… just no more… yes you can have it.”

The silence was broken only by faint sobbing he could hear from the other side of the door. Neville was frozen stiff. Did this have anything to do with the Philosopher’s Stone? He shivered at the thought as he recalled what Professor Quirrell had told him over a month ago. Snape was after the Stone to give to his Master, Vold… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. With the Stone not only could he return to power but gain immortality. Neville was terrified at the best of times. That thought was almost too much for him to handle. He gathered what little courage he could and knocked upon the door.

“Professor Quirrell?” He called out.

“M-Mister L-L-Longbottom? Come in.”

Neville pushed open the door and hopped in. He glanced around the room expecting to see whoever Professor Quirrell was conversing with, he hoped it was not Snape, but the room was barren. He did notice the nervous looking Professor seated behind his desk, adjusting his turban as his eyes glanced around the room. He was perspiring heavily and his eyes kept darting over to the fireplace which had burned down to coals nearby as he held his hand clenched to his chest.

“Wh-What can I do for you N-N-Neville?” Professor Quirrell asked shaking slightly as he spoke. “Oh my.” His eyes widened as he noticed Neville hop into the room. “Let me get that for you.” He took out his wand with his left hand and waved it before murmuring a counter-spell. Neville breathed a sigh of relief as his legs unlocked. “Was there an-anything else you n-n-needed?”

“Are you alright Professor?” Neville asked. Over the last month he had grown close to Professor Quirrell and knew the man suffered terribly from lack of nerves but fought through it. He had become comfortable enough around Neville that he normally did not stutter anymore. Neville worried that whatever had the Professor on edge was related to what he had just overheard. “Who were you talking with?”

“N-N-No one,” Professor Quirrell stuttered. The boy had almost caught him talking with his Master, but maybe he could turn this around. He caught Neville’s eyes as they travelled between the Professor and the fireplace. He grinned inwardly as he read Neville’s surface thoughts, the boy was cleverer than most gave him credit for. He had already put together a half-decent theory about what had happened. It was wrong but Quirrell could use that.

“Professor… you asked me to help you defend the Stone,” Neville said his eyes locked on Quirrell as he stepped across the room. “In return you have helped me outside of class to fight my own nervousness and stand up for myself. Are you in trouble? Was someone threatening you to get the secrets to the Stone’s defences?”

Professor Quirrell adopted a guilty look, his eyes unable to meet Neville’s as he sunk down into his chair. His hand was still clenched into a fist and he shivered under the withering glare of the young boy. For a student who had been more of a nervous wreck than the man Quirrell pretended to be, Neville had come a long way. As he put on his performance Quirrell wondered ideally what potential this young man now had within him and if his Master would ever consider taking such a strong willed and powerful wizard as a follower. Once more his Master was amused by this prospect for reasons Quirrell was not informed of, chuckling mentally.

“Professor? Were they threatening you through the floo?” Neville asked once more glancing at the fireplace.

“Yes…” Quirrell answered with a gulp.

“And you gave into them?” Professor Quirrell nodded, looking ashamed. “You can’t tell them the secret.”

“It’s n-n-not that easy N-N-Neville… the things Professor Sn… they threatened to do to me. There’s nothing I can do to stop them.”

Neville’s eyes narrowed at Quirrell’s ‘slip-up’ as he eased back from the Professor. “I understand,” Neville said, compassion shining through. “But please Professor you have to stay strong. I know Professor Snape is threatening you, you told me yourself you think he is after the Stone. You told me what he could do with that. He can bring back You-Know-Who and give him immortality. We can’t let that happen.” He reached out and placed a hand upon the Professor’s shoulder. The man took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a little.

“I will try,” Professor Quirrell said giving Neville an uneasy smile. “But there is no telling how much Snape has uncovered about the other defences. He is a cunning man and not to be underestimated.”

“But as long as you can hold out…”

“Even if I do, he may still be able to overcome my defence. I know Hagrid’s dog stopped him on Halloween so unless he finds a way past that we know at least one of them can hold him back.”

“The dog is Hagrid’s?” Neville asked and got a nod in return. “Maybe we should talk to him.”

“I don’t think I should,” Professor Quirrell said glancing around the room suspiciously. “I heard Professor Snape has been spreading rumours among the staff that I, of all people, am after the Stone.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I suspect he knows I am onto him and that with my refusal to share the secret with him… I think he believes he can either bully it out of me or frame me for his attempt on the Stone. I think he is looking for a s-s-scapegoat,” Professor Quirrell said his stutter returning as he shook.

“It will be okay Professor,” Neville said patting the man on the shoulder. “Just stay strong and we’ll find some way to stop Snape.”

“He could k-k-kill us…”

Neville paled at these words but managed to stand his ground. “More than our lives are on the line. If he resurrects You-Know-Who…”

“Others will die. I know. Do not worry. I will resist him,” Professor Quirrell said and was pleased to see the doubt in Neville’s eyes. “Let us discuss other topics.” He eyed the boy as he sat up higher in his chair. “Who cursed you?”

“No one…” Neville said. His mouth suddenly felt dry as he glanced away from Professor Quirrell.

“Neville…”

“Draco Malfoy,” Neville spat out his brow furrowing. “He’s always bullying me and taunting me. Talking about how I’m a sorry excuse for a wizard. Squib Longbottom is what he calls me.” Neville was shaking with rage as he glanced back at Quirrell. “He says… he says my parents must be so disappointed in me and the way he looks at me when he says it… I just want to hurt him.”

Professor Quirrell adopted a sympathetic look as he saw past the rage and hatred at Malfoy and into the deep shame Neville held around his parents. “Neville, my boy, there will always be bullies in the world. I speak from experience on that,” Professor Quirrell said with a kind smile. “But luckily there are those willing to stand up to the bullies and fight for the little man. Now there is nothing I can do about this incident as a teacher since I did not witness it, but I can offer advice. Who do you think can stand up to Mister Malfoy?”

“Holly Potter already has,” Neville answered immediately. “She jinxed him in potions class when he tried to sabotage her cauldron. But ever since than he has been leaving her and her friends alone. Especially without Snape to protect him…”

“Yes, I have witnessed his sudden change in attitude… very curious,” Professor Quirrell mused. His Master was also concerned by this. “I am not sure what angle he is trying to play, but it is worrying nonetheless. Back to what you were saying though. Holly Potter stood up to Mister Malfoy and then he stopped bullying her?”

“Yes,” Neville said with a nod.

“Then that might be what you need to do. Stand up to him and he will stop his bullying of you.”

“Every time I try to defend myself against him, he gets the upper hand.”

“Then maybe you need to strike first, force him into a fair fight or get your own upper hand,” Professor Quirrell suggested and watched as Neville’s eyes widened.

“But Professor… I can’t just attack him…”

“Of course not, that would be against school rules,” Professor Quirrell said a glint in his eyes. “But tell me Neville, both you and Mister Malfoy are sons of a wizarding family, both Heirs by law to Noble Houses, correct?” Neville nodded at this. “He has repeatedly insulted and disgraced not only you but your parents. He has dishonoured your family. Can you tell me what the traditional response to these actions would be?”

“An Honour Duel Sir,” Neville said. “You want me… to challenge Malfoy to an Honour Duel?”

“It is merely a suggestion,” Professor Quirrell said. “If you want a fair way to stand up to him in front of the whole school where he cannot weasel his way out of it or trick you than this is one method. If you want to pursue this, I offer you my own tutelage and any other assistance I can give.”

“If I did do this Sir,” Neville said his heart racing as he thought over the prospect. “My Gran would kill me. To challenge someone to an Honour Duel… that would affirm my position as Heir Longbottom.”

“Neville you need to ask yourself this; is your Grandmother’s wrath worth stopping Draco Malfoy from bullying you and others? If you stand up to him once you can protect the others he picks on. You can make sure that no one else has to suffer as you do right now,” Professor Quirrell said. He watched as the boy’s eyes filled with determination.

“I’ll do it Professor.”

“Very good my boy. I knew you had a noble heart. Let me show you a few pointers on how to duel someone like Mister Malfoy…”

Quirrell spent a few hours showing Neville the basics of duelling. All he needed to do was fill the boy with courage enough to face Malfoy. Win or lose he would be able to use this event to sharpen the boy into the loyal follower he needed to accompany him to ‘save’ the Philosopher’s Stone. It was fascinating to work with the young boy. He was talented and magically strong with a good heart. His Master clearly had some history with the Longbottoms that Quirrell was not privy to. He wondered idly how the boy would react if he knew just who he was helping. It was a strange, yet, amusing partnership that Quirrell found himself in with the young boy.

Only once the boy had left did Quirrell open his right hand to reveal a horrible burn. He winced in pain as the memory of his Master forcing his palm into the fireplace mere hours ago came to mind. In the end he had agreed to his Master’s request. He would hunt a unicorn for the undead spector that shared his body. To kill and drink the blood of such a pure creature would allow their shared body to stop breaking apart but it would also put them on a timetable to retrieving the Stone. For only it or death could cure them of the cursed life this path would lead them on. Quirrell shivered at the thought.

*

“Holly?”

Holly Potter sat bolt up right upon her bed, screaming. She was cold and pale, shaking. Her glasses were still upon her face. She had not removed them when she collapsed upon her bed. It was the middle of the night and she was in her bed at Hogwarts. Her mind whirled as she realised a floating hand was upon her shoulder. Glancing over to her parted curtains she saw a blank space looking out towards the rest of the dorm where the other girls slept soundlessly. Holly looked to the hand and saw it coming from under the folds of a familiar cloak.

“Tonks?” Holly said frowning.

“Wotcher Holly,” Tonks said pulling off the cloak. “Sorry I woke you. I just came to return your cloak. I was going to wrap it around you before sneaking back down but I saw you convulsing in your sleep. I couldn’t hear you though… silencing charm?”

“I asked Albus to enchant my bed as to not disturb my roommates,” Holly murmured as she shifted over. “Sit on it and they won’t be able to hear you.”

Tonks sat on the bed and pulled the curtains closed. “Was it the dreams again?” She asked and Holly nodded. “Same ones?”

“More or less,” Holly said with a shrug as she refused to look at Tonks. She was shivering as she pulled her knees up to her chest. Her small eleven-year-old self was more prone to the cold than her older self.

“Holly… you know you can talk to me, right?” Tonks said as she wrapped an arm around Holly’s freezing body. “I’m here for you.”

“I know,” Holly said before sighing. “I dreamed of the Battle of Hogwarts. The one where I had to face Voldemort with the Elder Wand. So many people died before I could get to him and even with the Wand I could not save them. I never saw it happen… I was elsewhere… but I remember seeing your body after you died.” Tonks felt the girl stiffen. “Every time I look at you… I see that body lying there in the Great Hall.”

“Holly,” Tonks said pulling the woman close. “Those are just dreams. They can’t harm you. And they will not happen again. We won’t let them.”

“Even if we do stop them, they already happened,” Holly said her voice low. “They happened to me and I can never take them back. I lived through them. I remember every moment. It’s all logged in my head. My occlumency will never let me forget.” Holly tapped her forehead. “And when I dream, they come back to haunt me. Every night I feel like I slip further and further into them. One day I fear I’ll just wake up and they won’t be dreams… they’ll be real.”

“Maybe something like Dreamless Sleep potion or…”

“That’s an addiction just waiting to happen. I thought about it. There’s nothing that can help me.”

“Holly there must be something, some way we can at the very least lessen this pain. You can’t go on like this…”

“The only time it is lessened is in the Room of Requirement…”

“Then that’s simple,” Tonks said with a smile. “You can go sleep there every night and it will all be…”

“No Tonks,” Holly said, as she pointedly stared in the opposite direction of the woman.

“But if the Room helps you rest easy at night…”

“It’s not the Room that stops the dreams,” Holly said her gaze snapping back to Tonks. “It’s sleeping next to someone I love.”

There was a long silence for a moment before Tonks’ smile warmed. “Then that’s an even easier fix,” Tonks said as she kicked off her boots. “Shove over.”

“What are you doing Tonks?” Holly asked, alarmed.

“Getting into bed,” Tonks said as she pulled back the blankets. She flicked her wand at the curtains and sealed them shut before casting an alarm spell upon herself. “I’ll be gone long before your dormmates wake up, which means you won’t get a full night of good sleep but most of it should be fine.”

“Tonks…” Holly said before wondering to herself why exactly she was objecting to this. She shook her head before glancing down at her clothes to hide a smile. “Can you cast the clothes expansion charm on one of my nighties? I don’t like sleeping in my younger form.”

“My clothes expansion charms should not be powerful enough to last s long as they have been,” Tonks said shaking her head. “I think the Room was helping to keep them going. But here…” She lifted up her weird sisters shirt and pulled it over her head, only getting tangled in it for a moment before throwing it Holly’s way. She had a thin undershirt on below it. “Use my shirt, its big enough on your older form to basically be a nightie as it is and I would not usually wear it to bed anyway.”

“Thanks,” Holly said taking the shirt. She started to pull off her clothes, stripping quickly. She was not ashamed by her eleven-year-old body, to her it was just another disguise. It was not the real her. Pulling on the shirt she let herself revert to her natural form and breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough Tonk’s shirt did fit her much like a nightgown, it was long enough to reach her thighs but it also was very loose around her chest and she had to fight to make it cover her breasts.

By now Tonks had slipped off her bra and thrown off her jeans leaving her in the tight undershirt and her underwear. “Come under the covers Holly,” Tonks said dragging the smaller woman into the bed with her. “Here… rest your head on my chest.”

“Thanks Tonks…” Holly murmured as she curled up with the woman. She pulled her invisibility cloak around them both under the blankets as she lay her head upon Tonks’ breast. She could hear the woman’s heartbeat sooth her to sleep.

Once more Tonks was left with a sleeping Holly upon her chest. She breathed deeply, her own eyes felt heavy and mind was weary. “Goodnight Holly,” Tonks said to the sleeping girl as she drifted into a soundless slumber. There was no place else either of them would rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a fun chapter to write. I am glad I can finally get some story progress going. I have most of the rest of first year plotted out, some events to happen over the summer and even some good ideas for next year. Hopefully we’ll get there soon.
> 
> As always, feedback and comments are appreciated.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Luna's call](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20164837) by [goldenzingy46](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenzingy46/pseuds/goldenzingy46)




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